Restaurant Staffing Issues
Will Sleddens
Author
03/20/2022
Added
3
Plays
Description
SPJ Mark of Excellence Region 7 Finalist 2022
Searchable Transcript
Toggle between list and paragraph view.
- [00:00:00.320]If you've been out to
- [00:00:01.153]eat recently, you may have noticed that your
- [00:00:02.860]favorite restaurants are understaffed, have reduced hours,
- [00:00:05.900]or may have even closed.
- [00:00:07.600]As Nebraska's unemployment has reached record lows of 2%,
- [00:00:11.080]many local restaurants (people chattering)
- [00:00:12.280]are struggling to find staff.
- [00:00:14.220]Alex Collins, bar manager at Fireworks Restaurant,
- [00:00:17.090]says this has been a challenge for his employees.
- [00:00:19.680]Before COVID,
- [00:00:20.530]we ran with usually about 12 to 13
- [00:00:23.380]servers on the floor with two runners, basically.
- [00:00:27.420]And now, we have (people chattering)
- [00:00:29.090]about eight servers on the floor.
- [00:00:31.010]So, we're run about three quarters,
- [00:00:34.220]and that's staffed well right now.
- [00:00:37.770]The executive director of
- [00:00:39.090]the Nebraska Restaurant Association
- [00:00:41.240]says this comes as yet another blow to restaurants
- [00:00:43.850]after years of COVID-related challenges.
- [00:00:46.910]A lotta times it feels like our industry
- [00:00:48.830]is suffering death by
- [00:00:49.860]a thousand cuts.
- [00:00:51.250]And I try to talk to my members
- [00:00:52.750]and say, look, (people chattering)
- [00:00:53.583]if we can just find that 1000th and 1 Band-Aid,
- [00:00:58.320]we'll probably be okay.
- [00:00:59.153]But it's just, it's just debilitating to people right now.
- [00:01:02.480]We have people who have had COVID and died.
- [00:01:06.130]We have people who have had COVID and have long-lasting
- [00:01:08.800]effects and cannot come back to work.
- [00:01:10.780]And then, the supply chain (people chattering)
- [00:01:12.780]issues are killing us.
- [00:01:14.890]Alex says in addition to a steady flow
- [00:01:16.920]of dine in business, the growing popularity
- [00:01:19.180]of their takeout (people chattering)
- [00:01:20.013]has made it difficult to keep up as well.
- [00:01:23.859]Well, it's definitely a lot more stressful
- [00:01:25.660]for the people that are here.
- [00:01:28.290]Despite the challenges, Alex says the staff
- [00:01:30.830]has remained in good spirits.
- [00:01:33.610]For the servers, I know they're, at the end of the shift,
- [00:01:36.460]they're usually pretty happy.
- [00:01:37.580]They're even having
- [00:01:38.413]a little fun along the way. (kitchen buzzing)
- [00:01:40.700]We just threw a (music playing distantly)
- [00:01:41.533]big employee party to help celebrate everyone
- [00:01:44.550]through this last few months, rough patch though.
- [00:01:48.610]Christina Bugay, the executive sous-chef
- [00:01:51.020]of Piedmont Bistro by Venue, says she's seen her staff
- [00:01:54.180]come together in a similar way.
- [00:01:56.100]So yes,
- [00:01:56.933]I do feel that the staff has become a lot closer during this
- [00:01:59.630]because we are what we call a bare-bones staff.
- [00:02:02.440]So, there's not a lot of us.
- [00:02:04.010]And we're all working together nearly every day.
- [00:02:08.661](kitchen buzzing)
- [00:02:09.494]Both Christina and Alex say the businesses
- [00:02:11.190]have raised wages and offered incentives such as
- [00:02:13.670]hiring bonuses to attract more staff.
- [00:02:16.200]So far, Christina says it's working.
- [00:02:19.140]Seems like it's starting to come around, actually.
- [00:02:22.000]Unfortunately, a lot of restaurants have closed down,
- [00:02:24.820]so that opens a window for us
- [00:02:26.401]to hire those people that have left the other restaurants
- [00:02:30.870]and to come to here.
- [00:02:32.086](kitchen buzzing)
- [00:02:32.919]Olson says she's not sure
- [00:02:34.020]when the problem will come to an end,
- [00:02:35.990]but for now,
- [00:02:36.823]she has one (bowl clanks)
- [00:02:37.656]piece of advice for anyone going out to eat.
- [00:02:39.910]Please be kind.
- [00:02:41.930]Tip generously. (chuckles)
- [00:02:44.330]And enjoy your fabulous meals that come
- [00:02:46.790]from Nebraska Restaurants.
- [00:02:48.987](people chattering)
- [00:02:49.820]Reporting for the Nebraska News Service,
- [00:02:51.510]I'm Will Sleddens.
The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!
You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.
Log in to post comments
Embed
Copy the following code into your page
HTML
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%; overflow: hidden; position:relative; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;">
<iframe
style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; border: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%;"
src="https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/18913?format=iframe&autoplay=0"
title="Video Player: Restaurant Staffing Issues"
allowfullscreen
></iframe>
</div>
Comments
0 Comments