Hi, I’m Bella. I’ll be your waitress today
One pub turns to new robot waiters as staff shortage hits home
A WELL-KNOWN west of Ireland restaurant is seeking a technological solution to the chronic shortage of staff hampering the hospitality sector.
The latest addition to staff at Nevin’s Newfield Inn, between Newport and Achill Island, Co. Mayo, is Bella the robot waitress – currently on trial but impressing her employer so far.
Speaking about his novel new hire, restaurant owner John Nevin told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘A lot of the work we do on the floor is waiting staff running in and out of the kitchen, so this is where Bella, as we call her, takes over.’
The ‘fairly high-end piece of kit’ is loaded up in the kitchen and instructed which tables to bring dishes to, where a staff member serves the dishes to customers.
‘It’s about making things less stressful for our waiting staff,’ adds Mr Nevin. ‘It allows the waiter or waitress to spend all their time on the floor looking after the customer, without the distraction of going in and out of the kitchen. They’re able to give better customer service.’
‘Obviously there is a staff shortage in our industry at the moment. This won’t ever replace a staff member, but makes things easier for us. It’s about working smarter and not harder.’
‘Some are saying this is going to be replacing jobs – it’s not. It’s about making the job easier and less stressful for staff, and spending more time with the customer.’
Mr Nevin was speaking as a hospitality recruitment company this week warned pubs, restaurants and hotels whose business was decimated by the pandemic will need to recruit as many as 10,000 workers from abroad to keep their doors open. Shane McLave of Excel Recruitment, which specialises in finding staff to work in the tourism and catering industry, said there is such a shortage of people willing to work as kitchen porters and waitresses that some restaurants are no longer serving lunches, or restricting their hours of opening. He told the paper: ‘Businesses are going to go out of business if we don’t get young people in Ireland into the job or if we don’t get people from overseas.
‘The businesses that have managed to stay afloat are now experiencing serious staffing shortages, particularly in the positions of chefs, kitchen porters and front of house staff. Where are the 19 and 20 year olds who used to do these jobs? They don’t exist anymore.
‘We lost a generation of workers because of Covid, with businesses shut for the past two years.
‘Some of the people who were working in these jobs have found higher-paid jobs in businesses like logistics and warehousing, where they have more sociable hours and they don’t want to go back to hospitality. Ireland is going to need 10,000 visas processed in the next nine months to deal with the crisis.’
The employment agency boss urged Tánaiste and Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Leo Varadkar to review the visa system so it becomes easier for employers to find workers from abroad.
At present, qualified chefs are not allowed to work here unless they first have a job offer, and it is illegal for them to work for any other employer.
Recruitment agencies want this system changed so workers from abroad can work for multiple businesses. They have also urged the Government to reduce the cost of work permits and to improve the system, so visas are issued faster.