COVID has caused innumerable issues across the global economy. But the real question is whether it is all bad or if it has presented an opportunity for growth. Now that restaurants are able to open up to full capacity and more restaurants than ever are hiring, there’s a shortage of staff. Why is this?
Danielle’s Scratch Kitchen
Dylan Montanio, Executive Chef of Danielle’s Scratch Kitchen in Castle Rock, weighed in on the matter, as this is something he has experienced firsthand.
He said, “I don’t know if there’s a shortage of staff available, per se, I think it’s that a lot of people in the industry, having that time off, kind of realized what they had been missing in life, which is having personal time, spending time with the family.”
He knows many are pointing fingers at benefits, workers were able to get paid unemployment. “It’s really telling more that the industry, in general, grossly underpaid and under-provided for its workforce. I think that is more of the issue, is that people realize now that they can make twice what they were making as a line cook going door-to-door selling solar panels and have vision and dental. They would work pretty straight hours.”
Montanio elaborated on finding qualified staff in a post-pandemic world: “I think the industry is at a reckoning point because now that we have gone through a pandemic in a modern era – the realization that you need to take care of your workforce is very present. And that is not something that has classically been done in restaurants.”
He has seen people not show up for interviews. “I would schedule 35 or 40 interviews and two of them will show up. Maybe one is kind of qualified, and I’m like, ‘Well, I guess you win by default, guy!’”
It is a challenge for restaurants to compete with unemployment wages with COVID benefits. He said, “It’s not even that much, it’s enough to live on now, and employers aren’t willing to pay that.”
Montanio said that while employers complain about paying $15 an hour, that has not been a livable wage in years. “You can’t rent an apartment and pay for your car, and maybe insurance, if you are lucky, or something like that on $15 an hour in this town, it is impossible,” he says. “It has gotten so far out of whack that unless you are a large corporation that is extremely profitable, then you can’t really afford to pay your workers a living wage.”
Montanio also added: “But, because you are one of those large corporations, you are probably really greedy, so why would you do that anyways? Workers aren’t people to you, they are just statistics, and that’s where you are at now. The small business owners I do know actually care a lot about their people, but they still have to make their business profitable, and have all these bills to pay. So, for these large business owners, are they really willing to be less greedy?”
A New Normal
It may not be that employees do not want to return to work, but they have discovered a new quality of life that was not available before the pandemic. Because of the pandemic and lack of work in the culinary industry, they were forced to find new means of supporting themselves.
What about the risk of returning to a kitchen where you are in close quarters with others, and you question whether they have been in contact with someone with COVID? What about the apparent risk they could take that home to their family?
Rookies Taphouse and Eatery
Jennifer Bianco, who was Executive Chef at Rookies Taphouse and Eatery in Fountain as well as a bar located on one of the military bases, had an opinion on this as well. Mind you, she also has a different perspective on this considering she works as a medical assistant at Evans Army Community Hospital.
Bianco said some people might be leery of working in close quarters. Or she said they might be afraid of losing their jobs if a lockdown is ordered again. “However, in my opinion, I think people are just lazy. Getting unemployment and a stimulus check, hell, why should they go back to the workforce?”
Multiple Issues Slow the Return to Work
No matter the cause for the slow return to work, the fact remains that restaurants and bars are looking for qualified staff and customers are looking for the opportunity to get out and enjoy a meal with family and friends.
[…] Ever since jobs started coming back this year, employers across the country have found it tough to fill their positions. The first industry to see a shortage of employees was the restaurant industry (as discussed in the TMO article Lack of Culinary Staffing: You May Have to Bus Your Own Table). […]