Seeing as the government considers deflation to be not an option, the only practical fix to the crisis is a general wage gain across the entire workforce equivalent to the inflation we’ve been seeing the past couple of years. More, really, seeing as inequality had been growing prior to the pandemic as well. Prices are not going to go down. And if deflation is threatening to occur, the government will move heaven and earth to stop that from happening. Ergo, wages need to go up.
Or maybe we could move away from this irrational system, but one step at a time, I suppose.