Calling In Sick or Going on Vacation, Workers Aren’t Showing Up This Summer

This summer is proving to be a season of staffing headaches.

A rise in Covid-19 absences in recent weeks amid the spread of the BA.5 subvariant, combined with planned time off, has left restaurants, hotel chains, manufacturers and other workplaces struggling to keep operations running this summer. At some companies, bosses say, staffing is harder now than at any previous stage in the pandemic.