Page 12 - aruba-today-20221212

A12 HEALTH
Monday 12 deceMber 2022
Shoppers, workers clash over post-

pandemic expectations

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Before
the pandemic, Cheryl Wo-
odard used to take her
daughter and her friends
to eat at a local IHOP in
Laurel, Maryland after their
dance practice. But now
they hardly go there any-
more because it closes too
early.
"It is a little frustrating be-
cause it's not as convenient
as it used to be," said Wo-
odard, 54, who also does Signs advertise deals and low prices at a Walmart in Secaucus,
most of her shopping on- N.J., Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022.
line these days instead of Associated Press
in person because of stores to their pre-pandemic most recent data.
limiting their hours. hours and some have even Meanwhile, the National
Before the pandemic, expanded them. But oth- Restaurant Association's
consumers had gotten ac- ers, like the Laurel location most recent monthly sur-
customed to instant grati- that Woodward used to vey of 4,200 restaurant op-
fication: packages and frequent, have indeed cut erators conducted in early
groceries delivered to their back. August found that 60% of
doorstep in less than an The changes are creating restaurants reduced hours
hour, stores that stayed a disconnect between cus- of operation on the days
open around the clock to tomers who want to shop they were open, while 38%
serve their every need. and dine like they used to closed on the days they
But more than two and a during pre-pandemic times would normally be open
half years later in a world and exhausted employ- compared to right before
yearning for normalcy, ees who no longer want to the pandemic. And a re-
many workers are fed up work those long hours — a port published by food
and don't want to go back push-pull that is only be- and beverage research
to the way things were. ing heightened during the firm Dataessential showed
They are demanding bet- busy holiday shopping sea- the average U.S. restaurant
ter schedules, and some- son. "Nobody is winning," as of October was open
times even quitting their said Sadie Cherney, a around six fewer hours per
jobs altogether. franchise owner with three week than in 2019 — a
As a consequence, many resale Clothes Mentor bou- 7.5% decline.
businesses still haven't tiques in South Carolina. "It Cherney noted her stores
been able to resume the is so demoralizing to see returned to pre-pandemic
same hours of operations that you are falling short on hours last year but with the
or services as they continue both ends." worsening labor shortages
to grapple with labor short- Across all industries, the and higher labor costs,
ages. Others have made average number of hours she has struggled to keep
changes in the name of worked per week per work- those same hours this year.
efficiency. For instance, er totaled 34.4 hours in No- Her store in Columbia is
Walmart, the nation's larg- vember, unchanged from open one hour later, but
est retailer and private February 2020, accord- she had to offer wage in-
employer, announced ing to the Bureau of Labor creases to her workers.
this past summer it doesn't Statistics. But for the retail For her two other loca-
have any plans for its su- industry, it slipped 1.6% to tions in Greenville and
percenters to return to its 30.2 hours per week dur- Spartanburg, hours have
pre-pandemic 24-hour dai- ing the same period. Hours been reduced for personal
ly operations. worked at restaurants were shopping appointments
IHOP says a vast majority of down by similar amount in throughout the week, and
its locations have returned October, according to the no longer accept second-
hand clothing from shop-
pers on Sundays.
Cherney noted customers
often complain about long
waits to process their sec-
ond-hand offerings, while
her staff is overextended
because they're working
20% more than what they
would like. The end result:
Cash flow and profitability
have both taken a hit.q