Lack of workers causing service problems, delaying opening of Kansas City restaurants
Even during the pandemic, business was strong enough that The Big Biscuit breakfast chain was able to open several new restaurants.
Now with readily available vaccines and fewer public health restrictions, more and more consumers are flooding in for omelets, pancakes and biscuits and gravy.
“Demand is coming back,” said Chad Offerdahl, president of the Overland Park-based chain. “It’s surging.”
But workers haven’t been near as ready to return to restaurants as customers.
On Saturday, The Big Biscuit opened its Sonoma Plaza location in Lenexa. That opening was delayed by more than a week as the company struggled to hire the 50 workers needed to operate the new location. It was eventually staffed in part by bringing employees from other area locations.
Last spring, restaurant workers were among the first and most severely hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. Tens of thousands were pushed to state unemployment systems as restaurants closed dining rooms and focused on carryout business.
Now, just as customers are returning, restaurants don’t have the staff to run at full speed, causing longer waits, shortened hours of operation and delays in new restaurant openings.
The problem will only get worse this summer as a couple of dozen eateries have announced plans to open across the metro.
“We’ve never had a hiring drought like this before,” Offerdahl said. “This is new territory for us.”
Some employees left the industry altogether, finding work elsewhere as the need for restaurant workers dipped. And restaurant managers say they have a tough time competing with increased unemployment benefits. Some employees can take home more from unemployment than what they would earn working at a restaurant.
“It’s a combination of reasons,” Offerdahl said. “No doubt we are up against unemployment that has been artificially increased and stimulus payments that give people opportunity not to show up for work.”
Like many local operations, Summit Restaurant Group hasn’t had a lack of applicants.
“We see a lot of people applying, but not a lot of people showing up for interviews.” said Amber Craig, director of operations at the company, which owns Boru Asian Eatery, Pearl Tavern and three Summit Grill locations.
The Kansas City company is looking for 53 employees — everything from dishwashers to managers. It recently added a $500 sign-on bonus for all full-time hourly workers. It will pay $200 after the employee is with the company for 60 days and an additional $300 after 120 days.
“We’re hoping it will drive some quality applicants who are looking for a long-term home,” Craig said.
Summit plans to open another Third Street Social location south of the Plaza in early June. That location will require the hiring of about 100 more workers.
“We’re going to be in a pickle until September when the current unemployment benefit extension runs out,” Craig said.
The current labor shortage is reminiscent of a pre-pandemic era. With the economy booming and unemployment rates low across the nation in late 2019 and early 2020, restaurateurs here and across the country struggled to hire and retain workers.
“I think it’s worse now than it was in 2019,” said Shawn Barber, who owns Conrad’s Restaurant & Alehouse in Liberty and Stables Local Kitchen & Patio in Kearney.
His restaurants are advertising openings for bartenders, line cooks, sous chef, hosts, dishwashers and managers. Barber said he’s only about 80% staffed so wait lists are running longer than normal. His restaurants have trimmed hours and shut down early on some Sundays to give the current staff a break.
“We would rather have less customers and do a better job with the ones we have,” Barber said. “Our product is about service. It’s about creating an experience.”
Are wages part of the problem?
At her Northland McDonald’s, Bridget Hughes fields more customer complaints than ever before. A lack of workers makes mistakes more likely and can cause service delays as crew members try to staff multiple stations at the busy restaurant.
“I can tell you one thing: the business hasn’t dropped. We’re still getting customers. They’re still getting their money,” she said of McDonald’s, “but the employees are not benefiting.”
Hughes, a 30-year-old shift leader, said the current labor shortage reveals a problem with wages — not with the unemployment system.
“It’s a sad thing to recognize that people are making more at home collecting unemployment than they are going to work,” she said. “The issue is we really need to raise the wages. It’s not that people are lazy. We want to work. We’re workers.”
Hughes is a leader in Stand Up KC, a group of fast-food workers pushing for a $15 minimum wage. She has worked at various McDonald’s locations for 15 years, but has only seen her wages increase from $7.25 to $13 per hour over that time, she said.
She said the best way for restaurants to recruit workers is to raise pay. For instance, she thinks her store would see a flood of applicants if it advertised positions starting at $15 per hour with healthcare benefits and labor union representation.
“Imagine how many people would apply,” she said, “how many would want to come to work every day.”
McDonald’s operators across the Kansas City metro expect to hire more than 4,000 restaurant employees to staff up for the busy summer months.
“We’re all struggling for the last five to 10 employees in our restaurants to get fully staffed,” said Jodi Ward, who owns McDonald’s stores in Kansas City, Independence and Blue Springs.
She said the issue isn’t as simple as raising wages, which in turn could cause prices to rise. At her restaurants, minors may earn the Missouri minimum wage of $10.30 per hour, but most employees are earning above that threshold, she said.
Ward said she’s had to get creative in trying to recruit applicants. She’s posted on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. And receipts include a number that can be texted to apply for openings.
A shortage of workers can affect service, but Ward said she doesn’t believe in making excuses with customers.
“Sometimes we just do our best,” she said, “because that’s what we can do.”
The role of unemployment
Michael Norsworthy said government restrictions have done two things to hurt the industry’s ability to hire and retain staff. First, its messaging and regulations around the virus scared workers, who feared contracting the coronavirus on the job.
Now, it’s paying people an inordinate amount to stay out of the workforce.
“You have people who are scared and people with pockets full of money,” said Norsworthy, CEO of North Kansas City-based 54th Street Scratch Grill & Bar. “They say, ‘I’m getting $500, $600 a week from the government through September. Why would I want to work and get the same amount of money?”
Weekly unemployment benefits are capped at $320 in Missouri and $488 in Kansas. But those figures were boosted significantly during the pandemic. First, the federal government added another $600 per week for unemployed workers, though that figure is now $300 per week.
Restaurants have been hiring in recent weeks, but not fast enough.
The National Restaurant Association says the industry added 175,800 jobs in March, but employment remains well below pre-pandemic levels.
In Kansas, the number of people working in eating and drinking establishments dropped 7.3% between February 2020 and March 2021. That figure dropped 11.3% in Missouri, where the industry has shed 25,000 jobs in the last year.
The 54th Street chain needs to hire 500 employees at 31 restaurants in four states. But it cannot find workers.
The chain’s first quarter of the year was the strongest and most profitable of its 30-year history. But it could have been better: 54th Street turned down $500,000 in potential business each week because restaurant staff cannot keep up with increased demand.
“It’s a literal bloodbath out there right now,” Norsworthy said. “I have been in this business for 30 years, it has never, ever, ever been this bad to secure employment.”
It frustrates customers, who complain of waiting longer for a table, even when restaurants are only half full.
“I have never been so frustrated in my life,” Norsworthy said. “ We are spending $40,000 a month on advertising for employees.”
As restaurants struggle to bring new people on board, they’ve increasingly invested in their existing workforce.
If an employee leaves there is no one to fill that position, said Josh Pedersen, director of operations at Red Door Grill, which has five restaurants across the metro. “So the focus has to be on taking care of your team.”
With sales now reaching pre-pandemic highs, Red Door Grill has offered overtime to current staff and asked managers to jump in on kitchen prep lines. The company has also doubled its referral bonus program, which is advertised in both English and Spanish. Employees can earn up to $1,000 for helping to bring in a new worker.
“Your best shot at getting new employees is through the team members you already have,” Pedersen says. “Word of mouth is the biggest selling point. That’s how you get guests in the building. It’s no different with team members.”
This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
