Area restaurants experience staff shortage

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) –With COVID regulations loosening, the Cape Fear lunch rush is back without the waitstaff to support it.

“There are now hiring signs everywhere,” said Cheryl Sealey, general manager at J. Michael’s Philly Deli. “I guess unemployment is really taking us down right now.”

Though demand for indoor dining is back and stronger than ever, many restaurants, like Mr. Bagel Meister’s, are struggling to find new employees.

“There is such a shortage,” said owner, Donna Conroy, “and I know that a lot of other businesses are having the same problem.

According Conroy, the lack of new staff is putting such a strain on existing workers, they’re having to close on Wednesday just to give employees a break

“We’d rather close a day and lose the revenue than lose the people.”

Conroy spends her off-time searching for new employees.

“We’ve posted on Indeed, Zip Recruiter, Facebook,” Conroy said. “But we just haven’t really… and every time we do find a response, they’ve already taken another job. It’s almost like the housing market, you have to get it quickly.”

And they’re not alone. Countless places like P.T.’s Grille, Pilot House, Antonio’s, Olympia, Fat Tony’s, and according to J. Michael Hutson, J. Michael’s Philly Deli are struggling to hire new staff to share the burden.

“We’ve started having difficulty which has gotten worse,” said J. Michael. “And now you know, people are having to shut down a day and they don’t want to.”

Even J. Michael’s Philly Deli, a 40 year land mark that offers workers paid vacation and health insurance, is shutting down two of its three locations’ dining rooms and moving to take out and drive through only.

“Well, we’re understaffed,” Sealey explained. “We don’t have enough staff to support the dining room.”

With business booming and new jobs available, Conroy can only guess what’s causing the staff shortage.

“People don’t want to risk losing their unemployment by taking that and if it’s slow,” she said. “Or it’s just that people don’t want to work in the restaurant business anymore.”

But until that order is filled, we could see far more help wanted signs in the Cape Fear.

J. Michaels is holding a job fair this Saturday at it’s Hanover Center location. For more information, click this link.