Difficult to Find Workers Because of the Furlough

My late father, Shalom, opened the meat restaurant just off HaMishtara

Square—the traffic circle by the police station—on Road 4 in the early 90s, together with two partners. I joined the business after I finished my national military service, and today I am the manager. Our pièces de résistance are our famous turkey and lamb shawarmas, but we also have other exceptional meat dishes, salads and side orders that are freshly made every day. Some years later, we opened an additional branch not far from the first one, also on Road 4. Before COVID-19, we employed over 40 staff—cooks, waiters, cashiers, cleaners and more.

“During the first lockdown we furloughed almost all of the workers, closed down the second branch—because we were unable to pay the double costs of keeping two sites open—and shifted to a concept of deliveries and takeaway. The problem is that our restaurant is based on customers who come in to eat their shawarma during their lunch break, and not via take-away, so we saw a drop of

60%-70% in our turnover. After a month and a half, we went back to working under the restrictions, but when the second lockdown began, we had to close again. We have ended up furloughing and bringing back our workers three times so far. Ever since we reopened after the third lockdown, we have struggled to hire workers, because they would rather stay at home, receive their furlough payments and work in informal labor.

“Although we are not a high-end chef restaurant where a meal can run into the hundreds of Shekels, we are still feeling the impacts of the uncertainty and the economic situation; people are thinking twice before they buy a shawarma and a soft drink. I hope that our public figures start to get a grip and get our economy moving again, instead of engaging in petty squabbling. Small businesses are the engine of the economy. The grants we were given covered a small proportion of our expenses, but we don’t want them—we are good enough to work and make money for ourselves. Yom HaAtzmaut is almost here, and we are hoping for much better business than usual, but we will need a lot more national holidays before we can start to look ahead.

The writer is the co-owner of “Sami BaKikar – Israeli Grill”. HaMishtara Square, Hadera. Tel: 04-6211999