To fellow musicians: have venues really declined since Covid?

Not to say every venue was perfect before. There was a mixed bag, but at the very least nearly every sound tech followed the rule of “you can be bad at your job, or you can be a jerk, but you can’t be both.” And a remarkable number were both good at their jobs, and pleasant to work with.

But since Covid, it seems almost every sound person has no idea how to mic, how to mix, how to set up monitors, etc, and a remarkable number are also huge jerks at the same time. And the worst part of it all, is that the rudest and least capable sound techs are expanding, and now working at some of my previously favorite venues.

I know I’m just being a complain-y baby, but I guess I’d like to know if anyone else has felt this?Anyone know why this happened? I assume most venues lost their staff during COVID, but why has it been impossible to find decent, or at least non-jerk staff. Anything we can do to help rectify it?