蜜柚直播

Ray Flores has almost enough servers and front-end workers at his family鈥檚 eight 蜜柚直播-area including three locations and downtown鈥檚 , but he鈥檚 having a tough time finding cooks and back-of-house workers to keep up with the demand.

Same story at Maria Mazon鈥檚 popular downtown , where she would love to open the dining room to its full 20-table capacity, but she can鈥檛 find enough workers to fill the shifts. And in midtown, Coralie Satta said that for every 10 people who respond to her 鈥渉elp wanted鈥� ads on sites including Indeed and Craigslist, only one shows up for a prearranged interview at .

鈥淣obody wants to run their business like this,鈥� said Satta, who has been trying to fill a cook鈥檚 position at Ghini鈥檚, 1803 E. Prince Road, since before the pandemic. 鈥淲e are doing what we can with what we have.鈥�

蜜柚直播 restaurants, coming off arguably one of the most difficult years, are in full-on hiring mode, but many say they are having no luck finding workers.

鈥淭he people who come in don鈥檛 have enough experience,鈥� which is not a big problem; she鈥檚 willing to train them, said Mazon, who would like to fill four positions at Boca, 533 N. Fourth Ave.

But some of the applicants also have limited availability, which can be a nonstarter, she said.

鈥淭hey want to work two or three days, which I get, but I want people to commit,鈥� Mazon said.

Finding workers is a problem that University of 蜜柚直播 economic and business researcher said is not unique to the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, bars and hotels. But it鈥檚 likely hitting this sector the hardest as 蜜柚直播 tries to recover from the economic havoc brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know for sure what鈥檚 driving it and it鈥檚 probably not just one thing. What it likely is is a variety of factors connected to the pandemic,鈥� said Hammond, who heads the .

Hammond said he suspects a good number of workers displaced after the economy shut down in March 2020 likely left the industry and found work elsewhere. Flores said he suspects many of them went to work for Amazon, which has a fulfillment center on South Kolb Road.

As restaurants were laying off workers in March 2020, when the state ordered them to close their dining rooms and convert their operations to takeout, Amazon was hiring. And they were paying $15 an hour 鈥� $3 more than the state鈥檚 minimum wage at the time.

While restaurants pay a tip-based minimum wage that is lower than the regular minimum, most restaurant workers more than make up for the difference in tips. Flores said his employees are making $15 an hour with tips and he鈥檚 upped the pay rate for his back-of-house staff including cooks and dishwashers. He said he鈥檚 also offered bonuses as a retention incentive to some employees as a way to encourage them to stay on board.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been putting out a lot of money just to keep people and to reward them during these crazy times,鈥� said Flores, whose family also runs the vegan-friendly on the northwest side and its newest restaurant, at 3699 N. Campbell Ave., in the same plaza as Satta鈥檚 Ghini鈥檚 French Caffe.

Co-owner Mat Cable said he expects his employees at Zio Peppe, 6502 E. Tanque Verde Road, will make at least $15 an hour with tips, which also will be split with some back-of-house employees. The lowest paid job at the restaurant is an entry-level dishwasher position that pays $12.50 an hour.

At Boca, Mazon said she pays her employees more than $1 above the state鈥檚 $12.15 minimum wage, and offers benefits to some depending on the job.

鈥淚鈥檓 a good boss and I will take care of them as long as they take care of me,鈥� said Mazon, who has become something of a national celebrity in the past few years thanks to appearances on Food Network shows including 鈥淐hopped鈥� in 2017 and Bravo鈥檚 that is airing now. 鈥淚鈥檓 in the trenches with them. I鈥檓 cleaning tables. I鈥檓 sweeping and mopping and delivering food.鈥�

One of the driving factors in 蜜柚直播鈥檚 tight job market, which is impacting every sector from retail and hospitality to construction, could be the enhanced unemployment benefits that pay $300 a week on top of the state鈥檚 $240 weekly benefit, Hammond said. Pima County鈥檚 unemployment rate as of March was sitting at 6.7%, up 1.7% from last year, he said.

鈥淭he unemployment pay is a significant increase that in many cases, particularly for lower-wage industries, will make that competitive to going back to work,鈥� he conceded. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one factor that鈥檚 probably contributing, but those programs are set to end in early September.鈥�

Cable said this is the worst he鈥檚 seen the job market in his 13 years as a 蜜柚直播 restaurant owner; he also owns the fast-casual on East Speedway.

鈥淚鈥檝e never seen it like this,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got enough interest to hire enough front of house so that we are reasonably comfortable to open for takeout and delivery. But we aren鈥檛 getting enough applicants (for drivers); or people who set up interviews and then not show up.鈥�

鈥淚 understand what鈥檚 going on. A lot of people went out and got other jobs,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 begrudge anybody if they found another opportunity and they are paying their bills. ... It will recover, but right now it鈥檚 just a difficult time. We try not to worry about the whys.鈥�