Daniel Halpern is looking to hire 800 workers and it has not been easy.
Halpern is the CEO of Jackmont Hospitality, an Atlanta-based food services company that grants franchises to nearly 45 restaurants, including TGI Fridays nationwide.
The diners return. But Halpern hopes that in the coming weeks their locations will have the right staff to make sure the patrons he was waiting for will have the experience they have been waiting for.
Jackmont currently employs about 1,200 workers. Before the pandemic arrived, its workforce was 2,700, more than double.
“For those of us in the service industry, staffing is critical to success. When we emerge from the crisis, we want to be able to open up and offer our customers a quality experience,” Halpern said. “We’re constantly trying to serve staff; it’s the number one of our calls with our CEOs.”
The average salary at their restaurants is about $ 13 an hour before the tips. It also offers benefits, but says it wants to encourage servers by paying them daily tips on cards and discussing additional benefits, such as login bonuses.
An additional incentive through direct payments to individuals and improved unemployment benefits is a potential double-edged sword for restaurants. Consumers have more cash and go back to dinner. But some operators like Halpern believe it encourages workers to stay home. Beyond that, large retailers like Amazon have hired hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the pandemic, which is likely to impact the job market in the services sector.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is seeing a reduction in the workforce at its nearly 1,000 company-owned and franchise locations, which typically employ 16- to 22-year-olds. CEO Charles Watson said hiring is now the company’s biggest wind.
“There is a shortage of manpower in the restaurant business and in the service business like we have never seen … There is simply no manpower in many of the markets we have in cafes. In short , people would rather stay home and get paid than go to work, ”he said. “This creates big problems for us when it comes to the most important thing, which is customer service.”
The Now Hiring sign is posted 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 during the month, while the unemployment rate fell to 6%, the highest total increase in jobs since August. 2020, a signal that the economy has recovered.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses said the challenge of trying to find skilled employees is weighing on small business owners. Although sentiment rose overall in March, 51% of homeowners reported few or no “qualified” applicants. In addition, 42% of all homeowners reported jobs they could not cover: a record maximum reading and 20 points above the group’s historical average over the past 48 years, of 22%.
“Main Street is improving as state and local constraints are reduced, but finding skilled labor is a critical issue for small businesses across the country,” the chief economist at the state said in a statement. NFIB, Bill Dunkelberg. “Small business owners are competing with the pandemic and rising unemployment benefits that keep some workers out of the workforce. However, the owners are still determined to hire workers and grow their business. “
Domino CEO Ritch Allison also acknowledged the toughness of the job market on Monday on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” The company has hired tens of thousands of workers, including delivery drivers, throughout the pandemic.
“It’s a very competitive market. So we see ourselves competing for the customers and also for the drivers, for the team members, we have to be excellent in both,” he said.
Large catering companies have recently announced hiring for tens of thousands of locations. Until Thursday, McDonald’s will host an event to cover 25,000 functions in the state of Texas alone, Reuters reported. The fast food giant hired 260,000 last year when restaurants opened for diners.
IHOP, owned by parent company Dine Brands, said it would hire 10,000 employees to fill full-time and part-time jobs at 1,600 locations in the U.S.
And Yum Brands ’Taco Bell renews its hires nationwide on April 21, at nearly 2,000 locations. The company seeks to hire 5,000 workers, turning car parks and courtyards into job fairs to keep applicants safe from the ongoing pandemic.
“It’s no secret that the job market is cramped, which is why we’re excited to host our fourth round of contract hiring in partnership with our franchisees,” Kelly McCulloch, CEO of Taco Bell, said in a communiqué.