Local Restaurants are hiring, but there is a staff shortage affecting their hours of operation. One new restaurant had to cut their lunch shift due to lack of workers. To protect their already hired staff and not to stretch them too thin, they have had to offer limited hours beginning at 3pm. Local job sites like now hiring and indeed show dozens of opportunities in a matter of seconds, finding bodies to fill those spots has been a struggle for the past year. With the busiest season approaching, garnering tens of thousands of tourists expected to travel to the lakes area, local restaurants are in serious need of workers for the hospitality industry that is so vital to our area.

The restaurant and hospitality industries were among the hardest hit by the pandemic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the restaurant and bar industry lost 5.5 million jobs from March to April of 2020 and as those jobs are returning, the workforce simply isn’t there. Federal unemployment benefits are keeping workers home and financial need or uncertainty has forced many hospitality workers out of the industry. This is a nation-wide struggle for restaurants and bars and all we can do is make the best of the staff we do have.