SIMSBURY, Conn. — What used to be a crisis of customers is now a crisis of employees. Local restaurants are feeling the hiring pinch and getting creative to stay afloat during a severe staffing shortage.
Plan B Burger in Simsbury says they just can’t get enough help to continue to provide service for indoor dining. So, they’ve adjusted their business model to do take out only until at least September. They aren’t the only ones.
"We're hoping that you can come back around September," said Heather Loranger, the VP of Marketing at Plan B. Plan B is down seven-line cooks and four bartenders, so the stools are up inside the restaurant.
Meanwhile, over at Joey’s Pizza Pie in West Hartford, their ultra-popular Detroit-style deep dish is now take-out only.
"We're short in all three restaurants. Some ads we post for job openings get very limited responses," explained Anthony Sullo, a co-owner of Joey Garlic's Restaurant Group.
The entire restaurant industry is facing a staffing shortage.
"Were about 20,000 jobs short in our state alone," said Scott Dolch, the Executive Director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association. A lack of customers is no longer the problem of the pandemic.
"Our restaurants are even struggling to make a profit right now even with the demand. And they are carrying 16-months of debt," said Dolch.
That debt has shuttered 600 Connecticut restaurants so far. Food costs are now 45% higher for an already thin margin industry. State unemployment also remains high at 7%, with restaurants having trouble getting people back on payroll while they are still able to collect an extra $300 federal unemployment bonus which is set to expire Sept. 6th.
"We’ve never had that in our history. Obviously, during the pandemic, I got it but looking at that September 6th date worries me," said Dolch.
There is a silver lining. Similar to how Connecticut’s schools turned to staffing agencies like Kelly Services during teacher shortages, companies like SnapChef, based just across the state line in Springfield, MA., are beginning to break into the Hartford market.
SnapChef is stepping in to address the restaurant crisis through free online training to become an on-demand food service worker. They are filling positions from dishwashers to food prep and line cooks. Todd Snopkowski is the CEO of SnapChef Training and Staffing.
Snopkowski said, "You can take the classes online from anywhere. We just had a young lady who we were talking to from London. You take the course. It’s 20 hours and you’ll automatically go out at $15 an hour."
Gov. Lamont has also tried to step in. The state is offering workers $1,000 hiring bonuses to come off long-term unemployment. Separately, restaurants have independently launched their own hiring incentive programs.
Plan B was offering a $1,000 hiring bonus but it didn't ultimately work out.
"We found that doing the $1,000 hiring bonus, people are coming for that and then switching to the next restaurant that will do that," said Loranger.
While restaurants seem to be optimistic that things will get better come September, they aren’t even sure about that because that’s when many of their student hires will return to the classroom.
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