Domestic workers, waiters, teachers, mailmen… Job ads are swarming in the United States, as the number of workers has decreased since the pandemic between retirements, immigration restrictions, or long COVID.

We no longer count the “We’re hiring” signs posted on the side of the road, in front of restaurants, or on buses. Employers are looking to hire more people than they did before the pandemic because of the frenzy of consumption of Americans, but they are struggling to recruit.

The number is impressive because there were more than 10 million job openings in June, according to the most recent data available, for less than 6 million jobseekers.

“We have plenty of jobs, but not enough workers,” and “this shortage is affecting all sectors,” summarized the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents American businesses, in a statement.

Many people stopped working in the spring of 2020 when the U.S. economy was hit hard by COVID-19. And haven’t returned.

“We would have 3.4 million more people in the workforce” if the participation rate, from 62.1% in July, was still 63.4%, as it was before the pandemic, the employer organization calculated.

For many, to retirement: “the U.S. population is aging,” said Nick Bunker, an expert on the U.S. job market and head of economic research for the job board Indeed.

Most “baby boomers” had already begun to leave the labour market before COVID. Still, there was an “acceleration of departures” at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, added Diane Swonk, chief economist for KPMG.