Tough jobs, nice people

Area restaurant staff and officials agree on one thing: a little kindness goes a long way.

Paige Morris, the assistant general manager at Shandy's Bar and Grill in Celina, said the restaurant is short-staffed, especially in the kitchen. They are short on cooks, dishwashers, food runners and helpers.

"I think right now, a lot of people understand we're short-staffed, but there's still some people that don't understand," Morris said. "When they come in to eat, they want their food really quickly and being short-staffed can take a toll on that. We have less people working so more people are dividing their time between multiple stations."

That's the consensus from several local eateries and bakeries.

Susan Krieg, owner of The Pie Shell, a bakery in New Bremen, said right now she has a solid staff of 13 employees. However, several employees are still in high school so she has to be flexible with their schedules.

"I feel fortunate. I do have a fantastic staff right now and everyone is willing to work," Krieg said. "When you go to restaurants, you really feel for them because you know they're giving it everything they have and some people are not always so kind when they are dining out because they're used to just being waited on hand and foot. They (employees) unfortunately don't have the time to do that anymore. They're doing the best they can.

"I wish I had the magic words that I knew exactly what to say other than just be patient when you do go to the restaurant or when you get to the deli counter… I think, ultimately just patience," Krieg continued.

Kylie Knapke, a supervisor at Beer Barrel in St. Marys, agreed employees are doing the best they can.

"People just need to be a little more understanding, the public," she said. "They definitely do get aggravated. Some people understand and some people don't. Even when we're busy and we are full-staffed, sometimes people do get a little irritated. A lot of people do understand that… the servers are trying their best."

Knapke said the restaurant is fully staffed now. At the same time, they are always interviewing because turnover is in the food industry is high, Knapke said.

Other than being understanding, Morris said stacking dishes after finishing a meal helps the servers out substantially.

"We love when people stack dishes," she said. "I know the servers greatly appreciate it. It makes their job a lot easier. It's a lot quicker for them to grab dishes off tables if they're already stacked up. Simple things, like making sure silverware is on top instead of buried under all the other dishes, really helps out just even the tiniest bit."

Knapke said she and Beer Barrel's servers don't expect but certainly appreciate the initiative.

"I feel like if someone's never worked in the restaurant business, they have no idea what it's like," Knapke said.

Jamie Wallace, owner of Jamie's Place in Celina, said she is extremely short-staffed and even worked open to close Tuesday.

She has six employees including herself and credits her regular customers for being understanding and patient.

Wallace thinks the pandemic played a large part in the labor shortage.

"They shut us down for two months and I just think a lot of people got out of the industry because when we were allowed to open back up is when we started having problems," Wallace said.

Krieg agrees COVID impacted employment.

"We do have such a large group of older people that still do work, but I think a lot of them did just quit during COVID," she said. "That generation of people we're missing out on because they're not filling in some of those gaps. High school kids are just a lot busier than when I was in high school. It's hard for the high school kids to get in there and carry on a job (with extracurriculars)."

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, at the peak of the pandemic, more than 120,000 businesses temporarily closed and more than 30 million U.S. workers were unemployed.

Job openings have steadily increased since January 2020, while unemployment has declined. Overall, in 2021, employers ended up adding an unprecedented 3.8 million jobs.

The U.S. Chamber surveyed unemployed workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic on what is keeping them from returning to work.

Nearly one in three women indicated that the need to be home and care for children or other family members has made the return to work difficult or impossible. More than a quarter of men indicated that their industry was still suffering and not enough good jobs are available to return to work.

Other factors include health anxiety, early retirement and lack of childcare access.

"Enhanced unemployment benefits, stimulus checks, and not being able to go out and spend money during the lockdown all contributed to Americans collectively adding $4 trillion to their savings accounts since early 2020," according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "The extra few hundred dollars a week from enhanced unemployment benefits (which ended in Sept. 2021), specifically, led to 68% of claimants earning more on unemployment than they did while working."