Daniel Halpern is looking to hire 800 workers and it has not been easy.
Halpern is the CEO of Jackmont Hospitality, an Atlanta-based company that offers franchises in about 45 restaurants, including TGI Fridays across the country.
Dinners are back. But Halpern hopes that in the coming weeks his locations will be properly equipped to ensure that the patrons he has been waiting for will have the experience they have come to expect.
Jackmont currently has about 1,200 workers. Before the pandemic, its workforce was 2,700, more than double.
“For those of us in the service industry, staff is key to success. When we emerge from the crisis, we want to be able to open up and provide our guests with a quality experience,” Halpern said. “We’re constantly trying to hire staff – it’s the number one issue in our calls with our CEOs.”
Average salaries at his restaurants are around $ 13 an hour before advice. It also offers benefits, but says it wants to boost servers by paying them daily tips on cards and discussing additional benefits, such as connection bonuses.
The additional incentive both through direct payments to individuals and through increased unemployment benefits is a potential double-edged sword for restaurants. Consumers have more money at hand and return to eat. But some operators like Halpern believe it encourages workers to stay home. Beyond that, large retailers, such as Amazon, employed hundreds of thousands of workers during the pandemic, likely affecting the service sector’s workforce.
The Tropical Smoothie sees a decline in the workforce in nearly 1,000 company-owned and franchised locations, which typically employ 16- to 22-year-olds. CEO Charles Watson said hiring is the biggest wind from the company right now.
“There is a shortage of labor in the restaurant and service industries, as we have never seen. … There is simply no labor force in many of the markets in which we have cafes – people would simply prefer to stay at home to be paid rather than go to work, “he said.” That makes us great. problems with our most important thing, which is customer service. “
A Now Hiring sign is displayed in front of a Taco Bell restaurant on February 5, 2021 in Novato, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
In March, non-farm payrolls rose by 916,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate fell to 6% – marking the highest total job growth since August 2020, a sign that the economy is recovering.
The National Federation of Independent Affairs said the challenge of trying to find qualified employees weighs on small business owners. While overall sentiment rose in March, 51% of homeowners reported few or no “qualified” applicants. Moreover, 42% of all owners reported jobs they could not hold – a record value and 20 points above the group’s historical average of the last 48 years, of 22%.
“Main Street is doing better as state and local restrictions are eased, but finding skilled labor is a critical issue for small businesses nationwide,” NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement. “Small business owners are competing with the pandemic and rising unemployment benefits that keep some workers out of the workforce. However, the owners remain determined to hire workers and grow their business. “
Domino CEO Ritch Allison also acknowledged the stress of the labor market in CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Monday. The company employed tens of thousands of workers, including delivery drivers, during the pandemic.
“It’s a very competitive market. So we see ourselves as competing for customers and also for competitors for drivers, for team members – we have to be great at both,” he said.
Large restaurant companies have recently announced event hiring for tens of thousands of positions. Until Thursday, McDonald’s will host an event that will fill 25,000 roles in the state of Texas alone, Reuters reported. The fast food giant hired 260,000 last year when restaurants reopened for restaurant meals.
IHOP, owned by parent company Dine Brands, has said it will hire 10,000 employees to fill part-time and full-time jobs in 1,600 US locations.
And Taco Bell, from Yum Brands, renews its employment groups across the country on April 21, in almost 2,000 locations. The company is looking to hire 5,000 workers, turning parking lots and terraces into job fairs to keep applicants safe from the ongoing pandemic.
“It’s no secret that the labor market is tight, which is why we’re excited to host the fourth round of engagement with the partners in partnership with our franchisees,” Taco Bell CEO Kelly McCulloch said in a statement. statement.