Changed by pandemic, many workers won't return to old jobs

Nate Mullins, a former bartender from Oak, Harbor, Wash., who quit his job last November after clashing with managers over enforcing mask rules, poses for a photo Monday, May 17, 2021, in Mount Vernon, Wash. There's a wild card in the push to return to post-pandemic life: many workers don't want to return to the jobs they once had. Mullins' unemployment checks don't match what he was making at the bar, but they're enough to get by while he looks for jobs that would provide health care and retirement benefits. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Ellen Booth, 57, studies at her kitchen table to become a certified medical coder as her dog, Rumble, looks out the window in Coventry, R.I., Monday, May 17, 2021. When the restaurant she worked for closed last year, Booth said it gave her "the kick I needed." She started a year-long class to learn to be a medical coder. When her unemployment benefits ran out two months ago, she started drawing on her retirement funds. Booth hopes to pass her upcoming exam and soon hit the job market. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Nate Mullins, a former bartender from Oak, Harbor, Wash., who quit his job last November after clashing with managers over enforcing mask rules, poses for a photo near a street mural Monday, May 17, 2021, in Mount Vernon, Wash. There's a wild card in the push to return to post-pandemic life: many workers don't want to return to the jobs they once had. Mullins' unemployment checks don't match what he was making at the bar, but they're enough to get by while he looks for jobs that would provide health care and retirement benefits. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Nate Mullins, a former bartender from Oak, Harbor, Wash., who quit his job last November after clashing with managers over enforcing mask rules, poses for a photo Monday, May 17, 2021, in Mount Vernon, Wash. There's a wild card in the push to return to post-pandemic life: many workers don't want to return to the jobs they once had. Mullins' unemployment checks don't match what he was making at the bar, but they're enough to get by while he looks for jobs that would provide health care and retirement benefits. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Ellen Booth, 57, studies at her kitchen table to become a certified medical coder as her cat, Juji, sits on a bed behind her in Coventry, R.I., Monday, May 17, 2021. When the restaurant she worked for closed last year, Booth said it gave her "the kick I needed." She started a year-long class to learn to be a medical coder. When her unemployment benefits ran out two months ago, she started drawing on her retirement funds. Booth hopes to pass her upcoming exam and soon hit the job market. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Ellen Booth, 57, studies at her kitchen table to become a certified medical coder, in Coventry, R.I., Monday, May 17, 2021. When the restaurant she worked for closed last year, Booth said it gave her "the kick I needed." She started a year-long class to learn to be a medical coder. When her unemployment benefits ran out two months ago, she started drawing on her retirement funds. Booth hopes to pass her upcoming exam and soon hit the job market. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Ellen Booth, 57, studies at her kitchen table to become a certified medical coder, in Coventry, R.I., Monday, May 17, 2021. When the restaurant she worked for closed last year, Booth said it gave her "the kick I needed." She started a year-long class to learn to be a medical coder. When her unemployment benefits ran out two months ago, she started drawing on her retirement funds. Booth hopes to pass her upcoming exam and soon hit the job market. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Nate Mullins, a former bartender from Oak, Harbor, Wash., who quit his job last November after clashing with managers over enforcing mask rules, poses for a photo Monday, May 17, 2021, in Mount Vernon, Wash. There's a wild card in the push to return to post-pandemic life: many workers don't want to return to the jobs they once had. Mullins' unemployment checks don't match what he was making at the bar, but they're enough to get by while he looks for jobs that would provide health care and retirement benefits. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Ellen Booth, 57, who is studying to become a certified medical coder, sits with her dog, Rumble, at her home in Coventry, R.I., Monday, May 17, 2021. When the restaurant she worked for closed last year, Booth said it gave her "the kick I needed." She started a year-long class to learn to be a medical coder. When her unemployment benefits ran out two months ago, she started drawing on her retirement funds. Booth hopes to pass her upcoming exam and soon hit the job market. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Nate Mullins, a former bartender from Oak, Harbor, Wash., who quit his job last November after clashing with managers over enforcing mask rules, pulls up his sleeves as he readies to pose for a photo Monday, May 17, 2021, in Mount Vernon, Wash. There's a wild card in the push to return to post-pandemic life: many workers don't want to return to the jobs they once had. Mullins' unemployment checks don't match what he was making at the bar, but they're enough to get by while he looks for jobs that would provide health care and retirement benefits. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Ellen Booth, 57, who is studying to become a certified medical coder, plays with her dog, Rumble, at her home in Coventry, R.I., Monday, May 17, 2021. When the restaurant she worked for closed last year, Booth said it gave her "the kick I needed." She started a year-long class to learn to be a medical coder. When her unemployment benefits ran out two months ago, she started drawing on her retirement funds. Booth hopes to pass her upcoming exam and soon hit the job market. (AP Photo/David Goldman)