SallyCat
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I really think the main reason for this type of shortage is simply that people didn't sit around and wait for their jobs to come back when places closed down. They went out and found new (and better) opportunity. With constant opening/closing/restrictions, the service industry is at a disadvantage. Anyone who found work that provided better pay, benefits, and work from home environment, is not going to be going back to the uncertainty of work and low pay.
I don't know about other states, but here in Vermont the state has been offering free tuition for community college and career certificate programs, as well as areas of need (health care professions, e.g.). I had my advanced-EMT licensure course fully paid for and am taking Anat & Phys through the community college for free.
When I talked to the admissions counselor, she said the the demand was so high for CC admission statewide that they had to limit it to people who don't already have degrees. And even then, there are extra sources of COVID-related funding for anyone who wants to take classes. Because of those opportunities, an awful lot of people are going to have far better career opportunities than they did before COVID.
Last year, I know that mountains sometimes had to close at the last minute because they didn't have enough ski patrollers on that day. I reckon that vaccine mandates and just not wanting to deal with enforcing mask-wearing and the craziness of angry/rude customers is probably going to keep a fair number of patrollers away this year.