I wonder the same thing.
My husband stopped at Burger King, yesterday morning. There were 2 employees working. One employee was cooking and the other employee was taking orders from the drive through and the counter and he was filling all the orders. My husband said he could not keep up.
I am sure there is alot of burn out. There are signs for Help Wanted everywhere. Not only are they saying beginning $17+/hour and interviews on the spot. Do not see one store that does not have many help wanted signs outside, inside and in their ads.
Just adding my personal thought. I worked in retail before Covid and I could never do it again. I was hit with shopping bags because I would not take a blouse down from a display that was 10 feet high. I said I would not drag a 12 foot ladder through a crowded store. I would take it down once the store closed and call her. She did not like my answer, so she started swinging her shopping bags as hard as she could at me. Ripped my pantyhose.
I had a woman scream at me because I didn't know where her son was. She said "What are you paid for?" I had no idea that babysitting her son was part of my job. Apparently she dumped her son in our store as she went shopping in the mall. And she could not find him when she came back an hour later.
Or children that used plush animal displays as their personal bathroom. We had to clean it up.
The stories go on and on. I loved the people that I worked with. But I am too old to deal with what we put up with.