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business Friday 6 May 2022
Small businesses still struggle to find enough workers

By MAE ANDERSON to three staffers at the West
AP Business Writer Palm Beach location. He is
NEW YORK (AP) — Some considering changing the
small businesses are still business to use less staffers.
struggling to hire qualified “Let’s assume the employ-
workers, even as Ameri- ment shortage is not go-
cans return to the U.S. job ing to change,” Bodasing
market in droves. said. “You can sit around
Hiring and retaining em- and struggle or pivot and
ployees remains the top change the business in a
challenge for small busi- way that will get us ahead
nesses, according to a even during the shortage.”
survey of 1,100 businesses One option is to replace
by Goldman Sachs 10,000 the cashier position with
Small Business Voices out an automated kiosk, which
last week. Ninety percent lets customers order and
of businesses that are hiring pay. Another possibil-
are finding it difficult to re- ity: introducing meal plans,
cruit qualified candidates where customers order a
for open positions. minimum of five meals in
In general, the U.S. job mar- advance that they can eat
ket is sizzling. An unexpect- or freeze.
edly strong recovery from “You just have to think out-
the brief but devastating side the box; literally noth-
coronavirus recession left ing is off the table,” he said.
companies scrambling to Matt Ensero, founder of
recall workers they had laid Wing it On! chicken res-
off in the spring of 2020 and taurants, faced the chal-
to find new ones. Over the lenge of keeping a full staff
past year, U.S. employers of 35 employees at the
have added an average Shirley Hughes, owner of Sweet Cheats bakery, poses for a photo, Friday, April 15, 2022, in Atlanta. company’s two corporate
of more than 540,000 jobs a Associated Press restaurants in Waterbury,
month. The Labor Depart- ployed person. But a large when she offers $14 or $15 dustries have regained the Connecticut, and Raleigh,
ment is expected to report number of smaller busi- for experienced bakers. jobs lost to the pandemic, North Carolina. (The chain
Friday that employers hired nesses say they’re having Hughes has had to add employment in leisure and also has nine franchise lo-
another 396,000 last month, trouble getting candidates benefits for her two long- hospitality is down by 1.5 cations with more in devel-
according to FactSet. to even apply for openings, time staffers to hang onto million, or 8.7%, since Febru- opment.)
But small business owners particularly in the hard-hit them. ary 2020, according to the “We thought, this is perva-
believe the job market is leisure and hospitality in- Teresa Depola is also taking Bureau of Labor Statistics. sive across our industry, we
a tale of two recoveries. dustry. Owners are taking on more work herself be- Many in the industry faced have to change our strat-
Eighty-eight percent of re- on more work themselves cause of a lack of available burnout after being on the egy,” he said. Ensero real-
spondents in the Goldman and improvising other ways help. She opened Betty Bo- front lines during two years ized he was competing
Sachs survey say small busi- to get by. ops Diner in Albany, New of the COVID-19 pandem- with other restaurants just to
nesses are struggling rela- “I’m worried about burn- York, 10 years ago, with her ic, said Rob Wilson, presi- get applicants in the door
tive to larger companies out. … It’s frustrating, very husband and son, and kept dent of human resources — people would schedule
in their local communities. frustrating,” said Shirley running it after she and her provider Employco. Some an interview and then not
Forty-two percent say they Hughes, owner of Sweet husband divorced. who stayed in the industry show up 90% of the time.
have lost employees to Cheats bakery in Atlanta. While she ideally would switched to larger restau- So, the chain started offer-
larger businesses that are Sweet Cheats had nine have three staffers to run rants where wages might ing people a free lunch or
paying more. staffers at the pre-pan- the place, lately she’s been be higher. Others left and dinner if they showed up.
“Small businesses are strug- demic peak. Now Hughes a one-person workforce: looked into new opportu- The ratio “flip-flopped” he
gling to compete with larg- has two plus herself. She’s cooking, waitressing, and nities. “There’s nobody to said, and most applicants
er employers on pay and curtailed business hours — even running deliveries. hire, there’s nobody out came for the interview.
benefits and cite a lack closing time has gone from “It’s small enough so I can there looking for jobs,” Meanwhile, at the Ra-
of qualified workers,” said 8:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and now do it myself, it’s not bad,” said Anesh Bodasing, who leigh location, which is
Joe Wall, National Director 4 p.m. — giving her and she said. Still, she would like opened Tiffin Box, a fast- near North Carolina State
of Goldman Sachs 10,000 her two bakers more time to add some staff so she casual Indian restaurant in University, the company
Small Businesses Voices. in the kitchen. Still, Hughes could serve dinner again. West Palm Beach, Florida, started offering scholar-
Data from payroll process- says she now works 80 to 90 She’s been serving break- in 2019 with 20 staffers. ships to workers: $1,000 if
ing firm ADP show a widen- hours a week. fast and lunch only and Last year in April 2021, Bo- they worked for a full year,
ing gap in hiring between Inflation is another chal- closing at 3 p.m. since the dasing temporarily opened or $500 if they worked one
businesses with 500 or more lenge. Higher expenses not pandemic started. And she a second location in a semester. The program was
employees and businesses only hurt businesses’ bot- doesn’t see the job picture food hall. But then the staff- a success, and the com-
with less than 50 staffers. tom lines, but also affect improving anytime soon. ing shortage began to hit pany plans to increase the
Those smaller businesses how well they can retain “I don’t think it’s going to home. “Your standard of amount for full-year work-
have lost jobs in three of and attract workers. Be- change for a while,” she employee went down and ers to $2,000 next year.
the past four months. fore the pandemic, Hughes said. “I’m going to keep it pay you’re paying people “It’s not something that’s a
In March, employers adver- would get hundreds of ap- the way it is right now, peo- went up. From an employ- foregone conclusion any-
tised a record 11.5 million plicants for openings. Now, ple are not willing to work ers’ standpoint, that’s the more that you can put up
job openings. The United she says she’s lucky to get just yet. I’m still having a lot wrong equation,” he said. an ad and people will walk
States now has two job one or two, and they tend of trouble finding staff.” Bodasing shuttered the through the door, and you
openings for every unem- to want $18 or $20 an hour, While most major U.S. in- food hall stall and is down hire them,” Ensero said.q