Has restaurant staffing become more difficult in recent years? —Patrick B., St. Louis
If the questioner is implying that it has, then he would be correct. Restaurants (both locally and across the country) continue to open at a staggering rate. Every month, openings outweigh the closings, which, in turn, translates to a lot of “Now Hiring” signs.
It’s a numbers game, really. Combine an increasing number of restaurants with a relatively stable population (in St. Louis, anyway), factor in that the national unemployment rate is at 3.9 percent, and consider that many restaurant jobs pay minimum wage or just above, and it’s easy to see that the bubble is bound to burst at some point.
I contend that 99 percent of local restaurateurs would agree that staffing has never been more difficult. I hear the complaints. I get asked whether I "know anybody,” sometimes several times in a week.
I didn’t pen this missive to whine about an obvious problem. I’m more interested in solutions. One of the more creative ways to shake the proverbial trees for employees would be to recruit in nearby cities, such as Chicago or Minneapolis, and tout the local dining scene while espousing the benefits of living in St. Louis. (An interesting aside: Almost all of the industry people whom I interview—both from out of town and returning to town—love St. Louis.)
Regardless, the staffing problem remains, so I asked a few owners to weigh in on the subject:
Chris LaRocca, the veteran restaurateur and co-founder of the Crushed Red chain of restaurants, among others, calls the present situation “a hiring war—as bad as it’s ever been.
“In the old days, you’d run a 'Help Wanted' ad in the Post, and that’s all you had to do. Today, there are other avenues available, and plenty of applicants, but what’s different is that only a small percentage ever show up for the interview. And then, after they’re hired, they may not show up to work. Staffing is by far the hardest part about the restaurant business.
“Fifteen years ago, it was all about pay; offering a few extra dollars an hour solved a lot of problems. Today, pay ranks No. 2 or 3, behind things like job culture and ancillary benefits. The current generation wants to align themselves with dining concepts that embrace a particular set of values. That’s the beacon. Being able to offer things like flexible hours, tuition reimbursements, and tossing out a random paid day off for doing a good job go further than another dollar an hour.”
LaRocca added a silver lining—of sorts: “In St. Louis, the unemployment rate is 4 percent; in Denver, it’s 2.5 percent. So it could be worse.”
David Justice, who oversees the seven metro locations of Dewey’s Pizza, echoes “the massively changing landscape” and that “for the last three years, hiring is the worst it’s been in my 30 years.
“It impacts everyone, from Dewey’s restaurants to Gerard Craft’s," he says. "In my industry alone, there are 15 new or newish fast-casual pizza chains. Several are in this market and building multiple stores. It’s bothersome, to say the least.
“At Dewey’s, we focus on retention. If we hire 1,000 employees, we have a developmental program, a leadership track, for all of them. The store managers teach them set, actionable things, from knife skills to salesmanship to understanding P&L’s—all designed to maximize the person’s ability to grow.
“Dewey’s made the commitment a while back to do more than teach people to sling pizzas. We thought it was doing an employee a disservice not to invest in them. When you partner with us, you get these extra benefits, skills that will transfer even if you move on. All this gets explained during the interview process, where you can tell if it resonates or not. The good news is it’s produced a lot of great young leaders in our company, people who under another scenario might have fallen through the cracks."
Editor's Note: the following, from Rich LoRusso of LoRusso's Cucina, was added Monday, June 25:
"Since it took me so long to reply to your email, that says a lot right there. It's worse than you described. I am in the kitchen every shift now. To deliver the same quality we have done for so long—32 years now—it has to be me because unfortunately, there is no one else.”
Follow George on Twitter @stlmag_dining or send him an email at gmahe@stlmag.com. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
