Nova Scotia restaurants and hotels need workers as vacancy rates hit record highs.
According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, there were 24,580 job vacancies in Nova Scotia in May, an increase of more than 22 per cent from April, with more than 1,600 in accommodation and food services.
“We’ve probably never seen anything like this in the history of the restaurant industry in Nova Scotia,” said Gordon Stewart, executive director of the Nova Scotia Restaurant Association.
“The labor problem will be longer and more difficult for restaurants than the COVID problem will be and will continue until at least 2030.”
Gordon Stewart says it will be a challenge to restore the food service labor pool to the 32,000 mark because many industries are competing for workers. (Dave Laughlin/CBC)
Stewart said it takes about 32,000 people to run the province’s food service industry, but the current figure is closer to 27,000.
How are restaurants doing?
Stewart said about 80 percent of restaurants in Nova Scotia have had to curtail operations in response to staff shortages. Many restaurants have shortened hours, reduced menus, and are closed on days when business is typically slower.
Bill Pratt, owner of multiple restaurants in the province, said staff shortages have forced him to close all 21 of his locations at least one day a week.
Bill Pratt owns 21 restaurants across the province, including the Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse, Habaneros and Cheese Curds chains. All 21 locations had to reduce hours due to staffing issues. (Rob Short/CBC)
“I can’t stress enough how critical it is to not be able to work seven days a week,” Pratt said.
“If you’re closed, you can’t generate income to pay your rent, your electric bills, your water bills. This is detrimental to the success of the business.”
Pratt would like the federal government to speed up the process of placing foreign workers in Nova Scotia’s kitchens. Pratt hired recruiters more than six months ago, who have found immigrant workers, but they have yet to start cooking in his kitchens.
“We need kitchen workers right now,” Pratt said.
Where did the local workers go?
The number of vacancies in the food sector started to increase in 2013, but increased during the pandemic. The need for new kitchen staff puts more strain on an already struggling workforce.
Chef making nachos at Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse. Pratt closed the restaurant on Sundays and Mondays to give his staff a break. (Rob Short/CBC)
Despite the wage increases, Pratt has lost kitchen staff to larger restaurant groups outside the province that can provide more competitive wages. A former employee tried to hire members of Pratt’s staff because his new employer offered signing bonuses to new chefs, Pratt said.
“When you start eating each other, what does that do to our industry? It’s killing us.”
The shutdown due to the pandemic has also allowed many restaurateurs to rethink their professions. Burnout resulting from low wages, long hours and grueling working conditions led to an increase in the number of vacant positions.
The Nova Scotia Restaurant Association polled industry members amid these staffing issues. The results show that people with more than 10 years of experience in the kitchen are the majority of workers leaving.
Hotels cannot provide full services
At the start of the pandemic, tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the provincial tourism sector.
Lisa Darr, director of industry relations for the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia, said tourism demand has returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, finding staff to fill positions in the accommodation sector is a challenge.
Lisa Darr says it has been a challenge to rebuild the accommodation workforce. (Rob Short/CBC News)
Dahr has heard from hotel operators that they have had to cut back on food service and limit the number of rooms they rent out.
“They’re going to be affected by whether or not they have servers to prepare and serve that food, or whether or not they have enough housekeepers to clean the rooms.”
Darr said most sectors of the travel industry expect three to five years to return to full staffing. They seek to fill the positions through a more diverse workforce, including youth, older workers and new Canadians.
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