New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘LIKE A BAND-AID FOR A BULLET’
Will $1,000 worker payments help solve staffing concerns in for Connecticut’s restaurants?
Gov. Ned Lamont announced an incentive Monday aimed at getting long-term unemployed people back to work, offering $1,000 “signing bonuses” to those who return to jobs. But the news prompted mixed reactions among Connecticut restaurant owners and staff Tuesday, as some wondered if the program does enough to address current staffing issues in the industry.
Eligible recipients in the $10 million incentive program must be out of work for at least eight weeks and retain their new jobs for two months. Applications for the program, which Lamont said would be administered by the state departments of Labor and Revenue Services, will be accepted starting on May 24.
Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, said after Lamont’s announcement that the state’s industry is in the midst of trying to hire 30,000 workers, in attempt to get back to the pre-COVID workforce of 160,000 — about 10 percent of the state’s working population.
“So many restaurants are having a hard time finding staff,” Dolch said Monday. “It’s like small businesses across the board have similar problems. If we want a better recovery, we need to hire. We need to feed the region as best as we can.”
State Rep. David Rutigliano of Trumbull is a partner in SBC Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Southport Brewing Company, Local Kitchen & Beer Bar and the Sitting Duck Tavern. As a business owner on a “hiring spree,” looking to beef up staffing at seven restaurants, said he thinks the incentive could help.
“I think people aren’t applying and not accepting positions for lots of reasons,” he said. “I’ve tried to hire a lot of people over the past few weeks. Some of them don’t have childcare, some of them are still a little nervous [about COVID].”
Some, though, have said they would prefer to keep receiving federally backed unemployment payments, which add $300 a week to regular benefits, he said. The $1,000 incentive might be attractive to potential workers depending on how much they receive in weekly benefits, he noted.
Connecticut will join states including Arizona and Montana in offering cash incentives for a reluctant workforce. In some cases, unemployment benefits, with the added support from the federal government, pay more than some hourly wages available in professions including restaurants.
Unlike Arizona and Montana, which are eliminating the $300-aweek payment, the extra benefit will remain in Connecticut for people still out of work.
Matt Storch, owner of Match Restaurant in South Norwalk and Match Burger Lobster in Westport, said he welcomed Connecticut’s new initiative. He had been considering personally offering a sign-on bonus or similar for new employees, as he needs to hire 10 to 12 new people between the two restaurants.
“It was just too hard to secure,” he said. “Say the person doesn’t work out, and it’s a loss to the business. There’s a risk and reward to everything, I guess.”
Signing bonuses and other hiring incentives have become common in the restaurant industry as owners and operators look for staff at every level of the business. Mohegan Sun hosted a job fair in early May, promising $2,000 sign-on bonuses to culinary hires. Applebee’s, looking to hire 10,000 new employees nationwide, gifted a free appetizer to candidates who attended in-person interviews in the restaurants on May 17.
Garden Catering, a restaurant group with locations in New Haven and Fairfield County, recently advertised starting pay of $15 per hour, with add-ons like health benefits for full-time staff, free meals on shift, flexible scheduling, paid parental leave and plans to offer college tuition assistance and retirement benefits.
The group will also offer $300 bonuses for referrals, if the new employee stays on for 90 days. Rutigliano said his restaurants also offer referral bonuses to current employees if they bring in a new hire.
Others in the industry don’t see the state-backed incentive as particularly helpful. Carlos Perez, the executive chef at @ The Corner in Litchfield, said he thinks the effect will be “minimal.”
“If you look at a thousand dollars over the course of two months, that’s what, $125 extra?” he said, noting Connecticut would continue the $300 weekly benefit.
Perez said he collected unemployment for only about two weeks after the initial March 2020 restaurant shutdowns, and went back to work as soon as he could. He’s used to the industry’s long, demanding hours, but he said he understands where the shutdowns and subsequent extended unemployment offerings have made people reconsider their careers.
“A lot of people got to stay home with their families and kind of see a different way of life than their normal 80-hour workweeks behind the line, and all these weird hours in the restaurant industry, not getting home until late,” he said. “This just gave them a taste of what a regular lifestyle is like, on top of being financially secure, or at least having some sort of income. And I think a lot of people just are going to have more trouble going back to the industry.”
Colt Taylor, owner of The Essex and The Essex Public Market & Food Hall in Centerbrook, said restaurant employees are weighing out their options regarding returning to work, particularly if they don’t have child care. Unemployment benefits may allow them to stay home with their children at a time where in-person learning is disrupted.
But while he thinks the $300 additional weekly benefit should remain in place for people in need, he doesn’t think it should be “an alternative to work if you can work,” he said.
Taylor said he retained staff during the slow winter season, so he isn’t looking to hire as many new people as some of his industry peers — though he’s looking for a sous chef. He said he tries to create a different, more respectful workplace culture, where work-life balance is encouraged. Where the industry norm is typically long and physically demanding hours, his restaurant is only open five days a week, and he’s keeping it that way.
“I don’t want to push people to work a sixth day, and I don’t want to push people to work more than 40 hours a week,” he said. “I want them to have some semblance of happiness and balance in life. I think it’s very important.”
Taylor said it’s “on restaurant owners” to fix a system he describes as broken, and he doesn’t think the state’s program is going to help much.
“This incentive is not anything that’s going to help the broken system. [You need] longevity and consistency within a job, not a little bonus program that’s a one-shot deal,” he said. “You’re going to get people coming out and going for that bonus and working for what, a couple months, to collect their bonus check. At the end of the day, it seems like a Band-Aid for a bullet.”