by Dick Hall-Sizemore
I had heard about the problem with restaurant staffing, but had not experienced it. During the pandemic, my wife and I have relied on two local Italian restaurants for both takeout and eating out. Both restaurants reopened as soon as they could, and both retained the same staff they have had for several years.
While running errands today, I decided to get some lunch at a restaurant that I had gone to in past years, but not recently. It is a small, locally-owned Mexican restaurant that was open in Northside when we moved here over thirty years ago. It was closed. A sign on the door said that it would be closed “today” because of staff shortages. The sign looked as if it had been in place for some time.
Next was a somewhat trendy barbecue place (it advertises that it was named 4th Best Barbecue restaurant in the nation). A man at the front entrance informed me that only take-out or pickup was available. The dining room was closed due to staff shortages.
Going down the street a bit, I came upon a locally-owned, long-established Greek-Italian place whose gyro I really like. Place dark; door locked; no sign on the door.
I finally found some lunch at a Mexican restaurant that is a franchise. I like its chile verde, but I decided to try something different. Its burrito was mediocre, at best.
In summary, three long-established, locally-owned restaurants closed, or nearly so, because of staff shortages. Several months ago, some commenters on this blog would have placed the blame on workers who chose to stay at home and collect enhanced unemployment benefits rather than get a job. Those enhanced unemployment benefits have expired. The Virginia Employment Commission announced that’s Virginia’s unemployment rate for November was 3.4%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 3.1% unemployment rate for Richmond for November. Therefore, something else must be going on.
It would appear that workers in the Richmond area might be part of a nationwide trend. In November, a record 4.5 million people voluntarily left their jobs. And that was on top of more than 4 million in each of the two previous months. And the jobs they left were primarily low-paid jobs such as restaurant work.
I have never done it, but waiting on tables seems like it would be a difficult way to make a living. Therefore, I am glad that folks can find better-paying jobs that are more reliable than waiting on tables. Now, I just have to figure out where I can get a good burrito or gyr0.
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