SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Mark LaHoud, owner of Java Madness coffee shop on Salt Pond Road, said he sees “little to no” improvement in the help shortage affecting restaurant businesses since the pandemic started.
Kevin Durfee, owner of George’s of Galilee in Point Judith said the same and may think some could never return to the restaurant business.
“I’m still looking for people. We’re hunting. I’ve even had to reduce some of my capacity to serve and shut rooms and bar areas because I just don’t have the staff,” he said.
COVID-19 unemployment benefits ended Sept. 4 and business owners – especially hard-hit restaurants –thought that would bring an end to worker shortages piling on top of curtailed hours and openings. All were pushing these owners to a high point of frustration.
That salvation has not arrived for many owners in South County. The Independent talked to a few whose frustration is still teeming. Prior to the pandemic, South County restaurants and others across the county were part of a growing trend for dining out.
The United States saw a net increase of 2.5 percent, 15,145 new restaurants, in the third quarters of 2016 and 2017, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A Shift in Attitude
Owners like Durfee and LaHoud now think that a paradigm shift may be occurring. It also may have been developing before the pandemic. The National Restaurant Association reported in 2017 that 37 percent of its members said that finding help was their biggest problem.
The number of restaurants facing that issue grew by more than 15 percent since 2015.
Joe Viele, executive director of the Southern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, said that a recent informal survey of some restaurant owners in the tri-town area has produced an overall sentiment that hiring is still falling behind pre-pandemic levels.
The extra federal unemployment benefits – now ended – were considered by restaurant owners to be keeping people away from these hourly jobs. They could make more money on unemployment rather than working. However, some are seeing that’s not the only reason, according to Viele and others.
Durfee, LaHoud and other owners say that potential employees are leaving the industry all together because they want usual 9-to-5 shifts rather than nights and weekends.
“I’ve have to cut back on one day – Wednesday – and close at 2 p.m. because I’ve only one person who can work,” said LaHoud who has a staff of 14 and is usually open until 5 p.m.
Durfee said he usually has about 80 people working this time of year, but currently the roster tops out at 50 workers.
He also said he is hesitant to hire someone who has been unemployed for a long time.
“The longer people are out, the harder it is for them to return. Also, if somebody has been out for more than eight months or a year, I’d rather wash dishes myself,” he said, adding that with many businesses looking for help are going to question hiring someone who couldn’t find a job – when many were plentiful.
The stigma, said Durfee, is that a long-time or chronically unemployed person may not meet job demands. They may have fallen behind in keeping up with needed skills compared to others who have worked in the last six to eight months, he said.
Restaurant jobs can vary in skills and demands. While little-to-no experience is accepted among many applicants, other positions such as chefs, bakers, and other specialty preparers of food are needed because they have specific skill sets.
Retail businesses, report some owners, have fared a little better. A spokeswoman for Belmont Market said they she has not had problems finding suitable – and plentiful – candidates for employment.
Normal Not Yet
Gov. Dan McKee told The Independent in April that helping the state’s small businesses – noting especially those in tourism-dependent South County – anchored his strategy to throw open the doors Memorial Day weekend on the state’s re-opening.
Kicking off May 28, South County – and the rest of the state – returned to “near normal” – a term used by several local and other state officials – following a year of state-imposed restrictions.
“South County is right in the middle of that. It’s going to benefit by jumping up the date from early June to Memorial Day,” McKee said
Business owners said it quite hasn’t turned out as rosy as predicted.
LaHoud noted that he knew of some other restaurants also curtailing hours because of staff shortages.
Even the Providence Business News recent survey found continuing struggles. It reported that Rhode Island business are climbing out of the crater of the pandemic, but many are finding that the lingering fallout is dampening their recovery.
It also said that labor shortages have forced some companies to consider raising wages and improving benefits to stay competitive in a job market in which many workers are now in demand.
LaHoud said he feels that pain of change acutely every week because it has affected operating hours and worries about filling hours when someone calls out sick or just doesn’t come to work
The staggering economic return doesn’t have only one cause in his opinion, he added, but work-at-home during the pandemic may have opened people’s eyes to a more preferrable kind of employment.
“This is a paradigm shift. You are seeing people leaving (the restaurant industry). You are seeing them walk away in their belief that they don’t have to take anymore the hassles they’ve been having,” he said.
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October 23, 2021 at 07:00PM
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No easy answers as South County businesses still struggle to find workers - The Independent
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