The coronavirus pandemic’s shake-up of the U.S. economy still hasn’t fully resettled, and it’s clearly visible in reporting on businesses looking for workers and workers looking for jobs. On the one hand, top retailers say their industry is heading into its busiest time of the year desperate for more workers—so much so that some top retailers are raising pay or offering signing bonuses or referral bonuses. On the flip side, many job seekers say they’re not getting interviews—let alone offers—for jobs they’re well-qualified to do, including in retail. The reasons people might hesitate to go back to retail jobs aren’t hard to figure right now: Retail workers are exposed to a lot of people, and many have contracted COVID-19 on the job. Customers have assaulted workers in disputes over mask-wearing and other public health precautions. Top executives and shareholders have been handed large piles of cash while workers saw their meager hazard pay cut while the pandemic was still raging. Read more