OCEAN CITY, Md. - Restaurants in Worcester County continue to face worker shortages as the summer season approaches. Susan Jones with the Hotel Motel Restaurant Association says many businesses have had to reduce hours and some have had to close a couple days during the week due to the lack of employees.
“When you have to reduce your operational hours, you are obviously reducing your revenue and then you put on top of it the supply chain, the cost of gas all the increase in the cost of doing business so not only are you reducing your ability to make money but you are also putting more money out the door because of increased costs,” Jones said.
One of those restaurants affected by labor shortages is Buxy’s Salty Dog Saloon. According to owner Doug Baxbaum, last year, the restaurant closed Tuesday and also closed earlier on nights when they otherwise would have stayed open later. Buxbaum is hopeful his restaurant will have enough staff for this upcoming summer.
“There is definite concern and with that being said I felt we left money on the table last year. Town was busy, however closing a day, closing earlier makes it more difficult to plan,” Buxbaum said.
According to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant industry added over 100,000 jobs in February. Despite the growth, the industry still remains 6.7% below their pre pandemic employment peak.
“The jobs are coming back and people are starting to work a little more than they did previously. Does that mean everyone is going to come back no, probably not,” Jones said.
Restaurant owners believe they will get more J1 student visa workers this year than the past two since the pandemic is not affecting travel as much. However, a big obstacle to overcome for Ocean City is finding workforce housing for those students. Businesses are also trying to recruit locally from high schools and community colleges to fill jobs.