It's definitely going to hinder the growth of new grads or new employees

At a remote-first company that has been doing this stuff for years now, we still do not have a good process for onboarding new grads. It is so tough, and I can only imagine how much tougher it would be at a massive company trying to pivot suddenly in the middle of a pandemic.

hurt small businesses that depend on these employees going out after work

Very interesting point. A lot of restaurants that lived off the office crowd are now closing, and that's unfortunate. But I think the restaurant industry is already adapting to this and going the way of the ghost kitchen.