Texas restaurants are short of 125,000 workers as hiring continues
Industry experts say employment growth may be slower than hoped for a while, especially in the hospitality industry.
DALLAS – Industry experts say employment growth may be slower than hoped for a while, especially in the hospitality industry.
According to the Department of Labor, hiring fell below expectations in September when employers hired 194,000 workers.
It’s been seven months since Texas lifted restaurant capacity restrictions, but some restaurants are unable to open 100 percent due to persistent staff shortages.
“It’s definitely the number one challenge in the restaurant industry,” said Joe Monastero, chief operations officer for the Texas Restaurant Association.
He says around 100,000-125,000 restaurant workers have still not returned to the food industry. Forced to get creative, Raising Canes temporarily transferred about 200 of its Dallas office workers to work in its fast food restaurants.
But some restaurant workers don’t come back.
Lisa Sullivan is one of them. The former Dallas server returned to college instead.
“I’m back to work now, but I work in the area I went to school for,” said Sullivan
Despite fewer new hires than expected, the unemployment rate fell from 5.2% to 4.8%.
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“What I’m optimistic about is that employers actually have a lot of jobs. They’re trying to hire people,” said John Rosen, an economics professor at the University of New Haven. “It is worrying that people are not taking these jobs in numbers.”
Julie Bauke’s company helps people change careers and is convinced that several factors play a role.
“There are people who are still afraid of COVID-19, still afraid of the Delta variant,” she said. “We had a higher pension rate than we expected from the market.”
And those who change careers, like Sullivan.
“Of course the pandemic is not a good thing, but as far as my life goes, it has helped me make some very positive changes that I would not have made,” she said.
Sullivan said that even if she hadn’t gone back to school to graduate, she doesn’t think she would go back to waiting tables because of the Delta variant.
Meanwhile, Raising Canes is challenging itself by trying to hire 10,000 workers in 50 days.
TIED TOGETHER: September Job Report: US Adds Weak 194,000 Jobs as Delta Holds
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