Businesses dealing with labour shortages

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This article was published 07/08/2021 (1874 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As public health orders are set to relax in the province on Saturday, the hospitality industry is bracing itself for a tsunami of hungry patrons looking for meals at local restaurants.

Restaurants have been scrambling to fill the staffing voids created by an unstable work environment due to the pandemic and accentuated by government benefits, which in some cases, pays more than the employer or the same as but without the same effort.

Miranda Stobbe, general manager of Lady of the Lake, has had staff vacancies for the last two months. Her second cook is leaving soon. Navigating the pandemic hasn’t been easy.

“They realize it’s hard work,” she said.

“They realized spending time at home has value and that government supports have been a blessing.”

That translates to a workforce not very motivated to come back, especially front-end servers who were barely making ends meet. They’re making more on government incentives, she said.

When it came time to re-open at the end of June, Stobbe contacted absent staff and asked them to come back. Their response was that they weren’t ready to come back and asked if they could wait until they got a couple more government cheques.

As disappointing as it is, especially with an expanded patio and relaxed public health orders that will see bums in chairs, Stobbe may have to reduce the restaurant hours if she can’t fill positions.

“Even though the business is there, the staff is not there to support it.”

Asked if she would provide new hires incentives, Stobbe’s response was they would, “but we’re not seeing anybody apply.”

Rob Starkell, co-owner of West-Can Human Resources Solutions in Brandon, said it’s a labourer’s market right now.

Employees are looking for stability in a post-pandemic, pre-fourth wave world.

They want quality of life, balance, and supports almost immediately upon entering the workforce. This is in addition to a new age of consciousness where Generation Z and Millennials are expecting work to be meaningful and impactful right out of the gate.

“They aren’t accepting the norms from past generations. They don’t feel constricted by that kind of thinking,” he said.

While the hospitality industry generally tends to shy away from recruiters once they realize the cost of their service, Starkell recruits for a gamut of industries seeking general managers to sales staff.

The pandemic has forced Stakell’s business to rethink its approach to traditional recruiting practises as he tweaks his social media presence and tells employers they need to sweeten the pot to have an edge over their competition to attract workers.

During the pandemic, job seekers were reluctant to move into a new, challenging job because the risk outweighed the benefit of changing employers who may not be as financially stable, Starkell said.

But, once things return to normal, industries will see pent-up job dissatisfaction and a great wave of resignations will occur, according to an article in the July 16 issue of Talent Canada, a Human Resources publication.

On top of that, baby boomers, who were thinking of retiring, will likely throw in the towel sooner than later, Starkell pointed out.

“It’s going to be more of a challenge to fill those positions,” he suggested.

Starkell offers a bit of advice to employers seeking to fill vacant positions.

“They need to be a little bit creative to attract new candidates to the role with slightly higher wages, benefits packages, health care, or a pension package,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to hire based on personality and drive versus experience.”

There are a lot of young people who lack experience but are keen to work. He said holding out for someone with more experience may hinder your chances of hiring.

» kkielley@brandonsun.com