The U.S. Labor Department reported on Wednesday the puzzling news that while employers are posting a record number of job openings, millions of unemployed Americans are reluctant to take the jobs they are offering.

Employers are boosting pay levels and offering signing bonuses to get more employees, but lots of jobs remain unfilled.

People are afraid of the coronavirus. Child care is an issue for some, especially with uncertainty in whether schools are going to stay open or have to go back to distance learning.

While some employers blamed the generous federal unemployment benefits to help people through the pandemic, those payments ended this month. That may provide an impetus to some to seek work now.

Ask any successful company what the secret of their success is, and they will say its the people who work for them. It is absolutely true that businesses can’t function if they don’t have the people to run them. It’s up to businesses to find the magic formula of pay, benefits, scheduling, etc. to bring the workers back.