Low wages, instability to blame for labor shortage in industry, say workers

[ad_1]

HALIFAX – As restaurateurs across the country scramble to fill thousands of jobs, a common refrain has emerged: If the government is not paying workers to stay at home, the labor shortage has emerged. work that is rampant in the restaurant industry would not exist.

But workers tell a different story, pointing to low wages and grueling working conditions as the main obstacles to hiring.

” It’s hot. It’s stressful. The hours are long and the pay is horrible, ”says Chantelle Comeau, a 25-year veteran of the restaurant industry.

“People literally work to the point of exhausting themselves for pennies above minimum wage.”

The pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on restaurants in Canada.

The industry has suffered some of the longest shutdowns in the world, with more than 10,000 restaurants closing permanently.

It was also devastating for the workers. Hundreds of thousands of food service workers have lost their jobs and some are not coming back.

While some restaurateurs struggle to find enough workers to fill shifts, some suggest that government income supports are discouraging some from working.

“We have lost a lot of unskilled and lower paid workers,” says Danny Ellis, owner and operator of four restaurants in Cape Breton, an area with an unemployment rate of 12.6 percent, compared to 8.7 percent. one hundred for Nova Scotia as an integer.

“I can’t find a dishwasher,” he says. “Especially for guys in this position, why would they come back when they are paid to sit at home?”

The restaurateur says he’s raised wages, but still can’t find enough workers. He is now considering closing one of his restaurants one day a week just to give the current staff a break.

“I’ve been selling food and alcohol in Sydney for about 42 years now,” says Ellis. “This is the worst labor shortage I have ever encountered.”

Economists say there are several factors that contribute to the labor shortage in restaurants.

They say the wave of massive hires as the economy reopens has created intense competition for staff. The situation is exacerbated by the change in the field of restaurant workers, persistent concerns over COVID-19, the decrease in the number of foreign workers and the problems of finding daycares or summer camps.

“It will be quite difficult to rehire a quarter of a million people at once,” says David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives.

Highlighting recent statistics, he says wages in the restaurant industry have remained relatively stable, while the workload in terms of cleaning and improved health and safety measures has increased.

Changing public health recommendations and an impending fourth wave also make it impossible for most restaurateurs to guarantee hours, especially this fall, Macdonald says.

He says the solution to finding more workers is often to increase wages.

“The prerequisite for any complaint about a labor shortage is that there is a shortage – at the wages I’m willing to pay,” Macdonald says. “This is the part that is still missing.”

“They are asking people to potentially forgo government support to take part-time work, and even those hours are not being insured,” he said. “It’s not very convincing.”

It is this instability that has caused some people to quit the restaurant industry altogether, says Toronto-area bartender Scott Marleau.

“We have seen some extraordinary closures,” he said. “The instability is terrifying.

The 32-year-old bartender, who started as a barback more than a decade ago, says he worked odd jobs in construction and film production to cope during the pandemic and is returning to his job as head bartender from a hotel next week.

But Marleau says the repeated blockades have caused some people to quit and seek employment in another field permanently.

Comeau says that when she was laid off from a full-service restaurant, she tried working for a call center before eventually returning to food service.

She interviewed for a few jobs, including at Tim Hortons where she worked as a teenager.

The coffee and donut chain promised “competitive wages” that ended up being minimum wage, she said.

“I would have taken less than 20 years ago because people don’t tip anymore,” she says. “I used to come out with a $ 40 a day tip, but everyone pays electronically, so there’s no change in leaving a tip. “

Comeau ended up getting a job at a Halifax-area boutique hotel as a line cook for $ 14.50 an hour.

“It’s a really horrible salary for the amount of work I do and the 12 hour days I put into it,” she says. “If anyone is wondering why there is a labor shortage, just look at the paychecks of the restaurant workers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 25, 2021.

[ad_2]