Restaurants heavily impacted by labor shortages
August 17, 2021
This article written by Jakob Thorington and published by the Post Register on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. Read the original article.
Tuesdays at Mac n’ Kelly’s Pub and Grill are usually relatively slow for the Idaho Falls restaurant, demanding little from staff members. That changed on July 27, when a huge influx of customers caused a minor crisis.
“We had one bachelor party that had a reservation that was for like 20 people,” said owner Scot (Mac) McGuire. “For no reason whatsoever, our dining room just got hit. We seat 84 people in our dining room, and it was completely full. We also had two unscheduled birthday parties show up and there were well over 200 people in the building.”
It was a disappointing night for staff and the customers with two servers, one cook, and both owners working that night, McGuire said. Wait times went beyond two hours and people left strongly worded reviews online.
“I felt really bad that these people weren’t happy with the quality of service and their quality of meals, but they were right,” he said. “A two-hour wait time in a restaurant is ridiculous, I would’ve got up and walked out too.”
That’s the story for many businesses in the service industry in eastern Idaho. Signs calling for additional help or changes in restaurant hours have become a common sight and many restaurants have had to adjust their operations to avoid overworking the limited employees they have.
Mac n’ Kelly’s has closed its lower dining area most nights because of the staff shortage. The restaurant is also scaling back available hours on DoorDash and GrubHub, and seating wait times have been extended to ease the workload on the kitchen.
Even franchise restaurants such as Chili’s in Idaho Falls have temporarily closed due to short staffing. Chili’s has modified its hours, opening at 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closing on Sunday and Monday.
McGuire said his restaurant did everything it could to avoid this situation. Ownership has increased wages for all staff members and the restaurant has been aggressively searching for applicants. Like many other restaurants are seeing, people just aren’t applying.
The workforce is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The national civilian unemployment rate was at 5.4% in July 2021, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Discounting the pandemic, that’s the highest rate since April 2015. The unemployment rate before the pandemic in February 2020 was at 3.5%.
Idaho has long outperformed the nation in terms of unemployment. Its unemployment rate in June was 3%, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. In February 2020, the state’s unemployment rate was 3.3%.
While total employment in the state is comparable to pre-pandemic figures, one expert from the University of Idaho says the pandemic has changed the way people search for jobs.
“There are a number of factors at play,” said Terry Grieb, University of Idaho professor of finance. “The things that drive employment and unemployment vary in any region. It’s hard to point to certain specific things.” Read the full article.
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho, home of the Vandals, is Idaho’s land-grant, national research university. From its residential campus in Moscow, U of I serves the state of Idaho through educational centers in Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls, nine research and Extension centers, plus Extension offices in 42 counties. Home to nearly 11,000 students statewide, U of I is a leader in student-centered learning and excels at interdisciplinary research, service to businesses and communities, and in advancing diversity, citizenship and global outreach. U of I competes in the Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences. Learn more at uidaho.edu.