Help wanted at many restaurants - What will new normal be for industry?

Eating out became a milestone for many whose lives were restricted by COVID lockdowns.

While patrons craved a sit-down meal at their favourite eatery, restaurant owners cheered every time restrictions were eased in anticipation of the day when things would get back to normal.

But what will normal look like for the restaurant industry?

Staffing has been a problem and remains a significant hurdle for restaurants.

Tony Elenis, president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, recently told HalifaxToday that workforce issues were the No. 1 obstacle facing the sector pre-pandemic. Despite increases in vaccination rates and a drop in COVID cases, restaurants still struggle. 

“We anticipate that as we move to recovery and even after COVID, these workforce issues will come back and will be even more severe than what they were before,” he said.

Tony Cavaliere, manager of Fratelli’s restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie, said the number of workers leaving his establishment is about normal. Rehiring has been the issue.

“About two months ago I had lined up a solid dozen interviewees for random positions. I had two people who showed up,” said Cavaliere, who is part of the family, which owns Fratelli’s, Giovanni’s and Burger Don.

His restaurant got over the hiring hump brought on by the annual back to school migration, but many places across Canada are finding it difficult.

Employment in food services is now 14.8 per cent below its pre-pandemic level, according to Canada’s September labour-force survey. By February 2021, almost a quarter of a million hospitality employees had found a new line of work.

A recent survey by Restaurants Canada found that 80 per cent of food service operators were finding it difficult to hire kitchen staff and 67 per cent were having trouble filling serving, bar-tending and hosting positions. 

Cavaliere doesn’t think the issue is all about wages. 

Besides a good industry wage, he said he offers other incentives to retain and attract workers, such as financial support for attending cooking school.

Cavaliere points to CERB as one factor that may be holding people back. Other factors include workers reconsidering their careers, starting their own businesses or going back to school. Some analysts point to aging populations and slowed immigration as contributing to the problem. 

There’s also been much anger directed at staff around topics like vaccine cards and other restrictions and limitations.

Cavaliere believes there’s been a change in attitude.

“The general population is going through a phase where they just don’t want to work,” he said.

He’s not alone in contemplating these trends in the labourforce which are impacting all sectors. It’s been a hot topic among pundits and analysts from small-town lunch tables to the op-ed pages of The New York Times.

More than 15 million Americans quit their jobs since April, and 40 per cent of employees in the U.S., Australia, the U.K., Canada and Singapore say they are at least “somewhat likely” to quit within the next six months, according to a McKinsey and Co. consulting report.

Sault College’s Culinary Management program is playing a role in feeding workers to the restaurant industry. 

“My phone blew up over the course of the last year,” said program co-ordinator, Sue Birkenhauer, when speaking about calls she’s fielded from people looking to hire her students. 

“I can tell you that every single student we had come through our program was not at a shortage for work,” she said.

The college offers a one-year certificate program and a two-year culinary management program. The first year is a common year.

Birkenhauer has a passion for the restaurant industry and at the beginning of the year she shares her personal journey with new students.

“When I was going to university for nursing at the time I supported myself by having a kitchen job. That’s the great thing about our industry. There are so many different skill levels that they can take in. The flexibility in this industry is just phenomenal.”

She eventually discovered she had a passion for the industry and changed direction a semester shy of getting her nursing degree.

“The biggest challenge we find in our industry is being able to have the compensation for your work efforts,” she said. 

Just think of the rising costs at grocery stores. “When you try to pay your staff an adequate amount and possibly benefits, those costs start to add up.”

A longer-term trend in the industry is likely renewed efforts to hire more temporary foreign workers to fill vacancies without raising wages, said The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in an Oct. 13, 2021 report. 

“Those workers, with no path to citizenship and limited access to basic labour rights, could allow low-wage business models to survive the pandemic—though this is clearly not an optimal trend for workers,” the study reads.

CCPA says a higher minimum wage could be possible if customers pay higher prices.

“This also ensures that all employers have to pay those higher costs. That reduces the competitive constraints on individual employers unilaterally raising their wages.”

On top of the labour situation, Cavaliere said restaurants are currently facing difficult supply chain issues.

“It’s part of the conversation, for sure,” he said. “I can give you a million examples … There’s been a deep-fried pickle shortage Canada-wide for the longest time.”

Cavaliere has been in the forefront of blending technology with the restaurant industry.

He embraced the potential of on-line ordering prior to COVID, but the pandemic added fuel to the fire.  

“On-line ordering really came into play once COVID started for sure,” said Cavaliere.

Cavaliere said on-line ordering is here to stay.

Technology’s emphasis depends on the restaurant. Giovanni’s, for example, is a sit-down restaurant, whereas Fratelli’s and Burger Don, embraced on-line ordering and takeout. Cavaliere emphasizes that it can’t be at the expense of in-restaurant customers. He looks for about a 50-50 split between take-out to dining in.

Giovanni’s Fratelli’s and Burger Don are the kind of traditional, local restaurants that grace this city and will survive because of customer loyalty.

This local restaurant scene inspires executive chef Birkenhauer who is originally from LaPierre, Mich. and worked in the U.S. before coming to Sault Ste. Marie in 2003. 

The numerous eating venues, including a wide range of independent pizza establishments, is notable.

“It just goes to show how much local support you have,” she said. “Look at the newer restaurants that have opened up and some that have opened up through COVID and it’s reassuring for me that’s for sure,” said the Sault College culinary arts program co-ordinator.

Birkenhauer is confident in the industry.

She says many establishments are trying to provide better pay for workers and create a sense of security for them.

“I’m starting to see those things put in place which is reassuring for me,” said the teacher who wants to tell her students they can make a living and a career in the business.