What causes chronic labor shortage?

A chronic labor shortage happens when there aren’t enough people working to do all the jobs that need doing, and it keeps happening over and over.

Imagine you’re at a playground, and everyone wants to play on the swings. But there are only two swings, and 10 kids want to use them. That’s not fun for anyone, some kids have to wait, or maybe they can’t play as much.

Now imagine that happens every day, all year long. There aren't enough swings (or enough workers), so the playground feels crowded and busy, but it doesn’t run smoothly. That's like a chronic labor shortage, there just aren’t enough people to do the jobs that need doing.

Sometimes, businesses have more jobs than they expect, kind of like when your mom brings out extra cookies and you all want one, but only some of you get them. That’s what happens when a store opens up or a company needs more help. But if not enough people are available to work those new jobs, it becomes a shortage.

So, chronic labor shortages happen when there aren't enough workers for the number of jobs, and that keeps happening again and again.