The American workforce has been changing rapidly. Here is a look at where the workers have gone and why. Photo illustration: Liz Ornitz/WSJ Several million workers who dropped out of the U.S. workforce during the Covid-19 pandemic plan to stay out indefinitely because of persistent illness fears or physical impairments, potentially exacerbating the labor shortage for years, new research shows. About three million workforce dropouts say they don’t plan to return to pre-Covid activities—whether that includes going to work, shopping in person, or dining out—even after the pandemic ends, according to a monthly survey conducted over the past year by a team of researchers. The workforce dropouts tend to be women, who lack a college degree and have worked in low-paying fields.