Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
RESTAURANTS FACE WORKFORCE SHORTAGE
Pennsylvania eateries set to fully reopen on Memorial Day
FRANKLIN >> On Memorial Day, Pennsylvania will allow restaurants to reopen at 100 percent capacity for the first time in nearly 16 months.
Yet restaurants face additional woes these days, despite having the support of their local communities. There is a shortage of workers in the hospitality industry since the pandemic began last March.
With a shortage of workers, those still working at restaurants are working more.
There are multiple factors that impact the job shortage of servers and bartenders in Pennsylvania. One, people are still collecting unemployment, thanks to a federal extension around the New Year under the leadership of President Joe Biden.
Second, there is still some uncertainty of job stability in the hospitality industry, although that is waning given many states are near the completion of reopening commerce across diverse so-called “nonessential” sectors.
Third, and importantly, lack
of affordable child care is an enormous factor, given some schools are still teaching students virtually.
Domenic Seveno owns two hospitality venues, one in Delaware County and one in Chester County. His Delco business is a space for weddings and other milestone celebrations, and is also home to the Streetlight Kitchen & Bar at the Drexelbrook Event Center, 4700 Drexelbrook Drive, Drexel Hill.
Seveno’s operates a satellite location called The Franklin Commons in Phoenixville which focuses on catering.
“Some people have left the industry altogether,” Seveno said on May 13, “because of the uncertainty. That’s a big thing.”
Another challenge facing the hospitality industry is the fact the federal government still subsidizes that unemployment, Seveno said, adding that was a good thing during the pandemic, yet now is having an adverse impact when trying to get people to return to the workforce.
In terms of why people in the restaurant industry continue to stay home, another key factor is caregiving.
Seveno said, “Caring for your child or a senior is part of that equation as well as there still exist, although not as prevalent as before, a fear of COVID.”
Seveno said his venue in Phoenixville was almost completely shutdown by the Commonwealth, and all employees were let go spare two in sales.
Seveno’s prime location in Drexel Hill is home to a plethora of weddings.
Seveno said things are getting better.
On May 17, gatherings for events such as weddings can increase to 75 percent capacity; on May 31 percent it shifts to 100 percent.
Seveno said it is important to have a business plan in place for disaster emergencies.
“We went with a very easy structure: survival, rebuilding and thriving. Right now we begin the rebuilding process,” Seveno said.
Seveno said 2019 was a great year for restaurants, and 2020 was on track to be
the best year ever for business, and in March “we got our lights cut out right in front of us.”
Dave Magrogan, owner of the Harvest at 549 Wilmington Pike, in Concord Township, Delaware County just shy of the Chester County and Delaware Stateline borders, said that when Gov. Tom Wolf shut down the restaurant industry from indoor dining in December, the decision to do so decreased Chester County workers’ ability to buy Christmas gifts for their families this past holiday season.
“Servers and kitchen people as well — restaurant employees — over the holidays, they make substantial money,” Magrogan said. “People are really generous with tips,” he said, adding that the sales volumes are up during holidays impacting both the front and back of the house with additional revenue streams.
“Being in this industry, where all-of-a-sudden you were deemed non-essential, and then you were essential, then suddenly you weren’t essential it was this backand-forth,” Magrogan said.
Thus, “we’ve seen some very talented people, that at one point really loved the restaurant industry, really just got so fed up and they were exhausted by it.”
Magrogan continued, “They were exhausted by the inconsistent regulations. They were exhausted by the fact that, because of these regulations, you then had to shrink your teams down to a very small team just to survive. So a lot of people were wearing a lot of hats with a lot of different jobs. And then as we see ourselves coming out of lockdown, there’s multiple reasons why those people don’t want to come back to the industry.”
One, he said, is because people are now scared that restaurants are going to get shut down again this fall by the state government.
Two, Magrogan said, “They’ve found another line of work that maybe is not as guest or customer-focused.”
He said customer service has been a very difficult factor for restaurants during the pandemic as well, as some customers wanted stricter mandates, while others decried the new rules. For instance, some people were upset, others dining at restaurants weren’t wearing
masks at tables while waiting for food, while others were upset for having to wear masks.
“Many people left the industry,” said Magrogan, who testified before the Pennsylvania State Senate on the matter during the last year. “The government didn’t do a very good job of protecting our industries, employees.”
He said, “The government, in Pennsylvania especially, was very inconsistent in their guidance.”
Magrogan said consumers can help restaurants, foremost, by being understanding.
“When a server used to have four tables, they now have eight. There’s just not enough servers,” Magrogan said.
Also, for example, he said, the guy cooking your dinner, also cooked lunch, and is working a double. “Everybody’s working more hours; everybody’s trying.”
He continued, “What we need, we need people to come back to the industry.”
He said servers average anywhere between $16 and $30 an hour. “There is very good pay in restaurants,
and also extreme flexibility.”
Thousands of veterans have died across the TriState area, mostly who lived at state-run nursing homes and assisted care facilities such as the Southeastern Veterans’ Center in East Vincent Township, which neighbors Spring City near the northern edge of Chester County, home to Phoenixville.
As of April, 9.4 million persons reported that they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic — that is, they did not work at all or worked fewer hours at some point in the last 4 weeks due to the pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the U.S. Department of Labor.
Today, both the unemployment rate, at 6.1 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 9.8 million, were little changed in April. These measures are down considerably from their recent highs in April 2020 but remain well above their levels prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (3.5 percent and
5.7 million, respectively, in February 2020), according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Among those not in the labor force in April, 2.8 million persons were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic, the bureau said in May. Among the unemployed, the number of persons on temporary layoff, at 2.1 million, changed little in April.
Further, around 40 percent of all workers could theoretically earn more while unemployed than going back to work, according to an analysis by Noah Williams, director of the Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“There clearly was some concern that the industry was vulnerable to shutdowns, particularly in Pennsylvania based on the stops and starts that governor Wolf put in place,” said John Longstreet, president and chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, on Thursday.
“We are beyond that now,” Longstreet said. “The states that were so heavily mitigated did no better at controlling the virus than those that were slightly mitigated, particularly in the restaurant field.”
Longstreet said, “I don’t think we’re going to be seeing further shutdowns in restaurants I think we all know that was a mistake now.”
He continued, “Childcare is huge. Not only because of the fact that schools are closed, but a lot of childcare centers have closed from the pandemic due to financial hardship, just like a lot of restaurants have closed. So there are less options
available.
Longstreet said the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association is advocating in Harrisburg that the Commonwealth allocate funds from the American Rescue Plan to support childcare. Within this federal plan, $6 billion is heading to Pennsylvania.
“It’s a very big problem right now, but it’s a problem with light at the end of the tunnel,” Longstreet said. “Kids will go back to school.”
He said people value jobs in the restaurant industry and will return to them.
“It is a very difficult problem right now, and it is causing a lot of problems not be able to reopen fully even though they can as of May 31.”
Restaurants haven’t been able to serve patrons indoors at 100 percent capacity in nearly 15 months.
Yet restaurants, often known as local landmarks, are key to the success of any Main Street, moreover any community, in America.
“The first thing that brings a downtown back is the opening of restaurants,” Longstreet said.
Besides dealing with the lack of revenue caused by the shutdown, “restaurants have had to amass a lot of debt. Some were able to get somewhere. There is definitely more funding needed for that.”
Longstreet said a survey conducted by his association earlier this year found that 20 percent of restaurant owners said they won’t be able to survive without financial assistance.
He said restaurants haven’t had a problem with customers wanting to come back, overall. “People have learned that restaurants are
safe,” Longstreet said.
“We need to do everything we can to assure this never happens again,” Longstreet said. “All we have to do is look to history.”
Longstreet said his association is asking Harrisburg that $20 million of the $6 billion Pennsylvania is set to receive
from the America Rescue Plan be allotted to the promotion of tourism in the state.
“We need to put some good funds behind bring tourism back to the state,” Longstreet said.
He said the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association is working to support tourism bureaus in regional districts across the country, including Chester County Conference & Visitors
Bureau.
“Tourism contributed almost $1.2 billion in economic impact to Chester County in 2019, sustaining over 22,000 jobs,” stated Susan Hamley, Executive Director, Chester County Conference & Visitors Bureau. “Visitors bring in much needed economic vitality to our communities by staying in our accommodations, dining and shopping in our small businesses and enjoying attractions and vibrant
festivals and events.”
She said, “As restrictions ease and travel increases, sufficient staffing for our dedicated, hard-working hospitality community will be of even greater importance,”
Hamley added, “Companies are getting creative in solving this challenge, many offering signing bonuses and other incentives. But there are also resources available through Chester County Community Development
and Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association to help connect workers and companies.”
Pat Bokovitz serves as the director of the Chester County Workforce Development Board, which supports the Career Link of Chester County. The online resource, which is governed by the state, features a database of job seekers and employers and serves as a platform for people to connect.
“There are resources that can help, again, both job seekers that may need rent or utility assistance, and ... job search support and assistance,” Bokovitz said. “There are similar resources for the employers to connect with job seekers.”
Bokovitz added, “We are marketing that as a real resource to the community.”
To visit the Chester County career link, go to pacareerlinkchesco.org.