The great American sickout: Omicron is causing "hellacious" worker shortages
CBSN
A record spike in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant is causing a nationwide worker "sickout," disrupting businesses ranging from grocery stores to airlines.
The past few weeks have been "hellacious," Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian said in a Thursday conference call with analysts and reporters. The executive said 8,000 employees have contracted COVID-19 in the last four weeks alone — about 10% of the carrier's workforce — a toll that contributed to more than 2,200 cancelled flights since December 24.
Although a precise count of the number of employees who are out sick sick or quarantining is hard to come by, about 5 million Americans could be isolating due to COVID-19 at the peak of Omicron, according to Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. That could reflect about 2% of the nation's workforce forced to stay home due to illness, he added.