not sure if it's tangential, but the pandemic has also obviously impacted remote work, with more companies adopting policies that make remote work possible in the long-term. i've seen several countries starting to take advantage of this and create new visa's for remote workers who want to adopt a "digital native" lifestyle. i.e. costa rica and georgia have created new remote worker visa's to help stimulate their economy.
i think iceland has also created a new visa for these reasons, but focused on families whose income makers are remote workers.
Portugal also has a pretty great "digital nomad" visa program. At least they did the last time I checked. Worth checking out if you're s remote worker with aspirations of staying in the eu long term.
My mother is a teacher at a private middle/high school. She has noticed, and her colleagues agree, that the new class of freshmen this year were noticeably less well behaved compared to previous years. She said they are also way less able to pick up on social cues. Keep in mind this is an expensive private school with kids that had every advantage and ability to mitigate the effects of remote schooling.
Private schools are full of the worst types of idiots.
Source: former private school attendee.
From my perspective in academic science, Covid has stifled the brain drain. For a long time, it was hard for young academic professionals to enter the US, even if they were trying to get an education. My lab has made several hires that proceeded to have to move on because they couldn’t get into the country. It’s a damn shame and a waste of talent.