If there is anyone anywhere who doubts the value of a strong and willing workforce, they are likely living in the world of denial or in an isolated bunker somewhere dining on their hoarded store of MREs.

The lack of workers, along with related supply chain issues, has affected virtually every aspect of the lives we lead from hitting the grocery store expecting to find cat food on the shelves to signing a contract for new house and expecting to have it built in the next several months — and at the original price.

Virtually every type of business, every type of industry, every type of profession is feeling the pinch of not enough people and make no mistake, this is impacting not only private and public enterprise but many of the things we have long taken for granted.

Kids take the bus to school? They may be late getting there or getting home. It’s near impossible to find enough drivers for all the routes. Or teachers for every classroom every day, for that matter.

Looking for a night out? Expect to be patient or stay home. Seriously. Servers and kitchen staff are worth their weight in gold as having enough means wait times are reasonable, the food is hot, the drinks are cold and those who think things are back to pre-pandemic normal are not asking for a manager who’s likely on his or her second shift.

Government agencies can’t get enough in-demand workers, everything from police and firefighters to any position related to the construction trades. Filling a private-sector anything position in our trade- and service-related economy is a challenge. A big one.

What the state of the post-pandemic economy has taught us is that every worker is an “essential worker.”

And that a lack of a readily available and large enough labor force can impact the economy in lots of unpleasant ways.

Monday is Labor Day, a holiday spun, literally, from the blood, sweat and tears of common workers who had the most American of thoughts: That their efforts had value and that their collective effort, as the U.S. Department of Labor now recognizes, contributes to “the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

That was true the day of the first recognized Labor Day celebration in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882.

It was true when President Grover Cleveland made the first Monday in September a national holiday in 1894.

And, it is true today as American workers take more control of their labor efforts and explore the opportunities of work-from-home, self employment, gig-work and small-business and web-based enterprises, many of them home-based.

Anomaly or a sea change for American’s workforce picture?

We don’t have a crystal ball to see that economic forecast.

But we are all feeling the waves.

Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.

— Breeze editorial