NORFOLK, Va. – As area businesses rebound from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, some are either still - or once again - struggling to find enough employees.
The owner of Yorgo’s Bageldashery in Ghent says they’re temporarily closed on Tuesdays due to staffing. He mentioned some workers were college and high school students who returned to school.
Meanwhile, the owner of 80/20 Burger Bar chose to do the same thing and close on Tuesdays. Jamie Summs says because some restaurants are now closed on Mondays, they do quite well that day.
Summs says they did increase pay to keep up with demand and mentions they are nearly fully staffed now, but he says it was a struggle.
“There’s a lot of competition out there,” stated Summs, who said he’s been looking for applicants with experience because it’s tough to train someone new to the business right now. “Training someone from scratch is great when you have a full kitchen, but when you’re already down to, you know, bare bones, it’s difficult to get someone trained correctly.”
Meanwhile, The Fishin’ Pig opened its Ghent location in July. Owner Tom Fox says he feels fortunate things are going well.
“I can’t explain it, but it’s just been really, really nice. We haven’t had to close down for any days,” explained Fox. “We’re open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and we have a great staff and it’s going well.”
Fox added that he did have some college students who left recently, but he’s already been able to fill their positions.
“We have a great kitchen manager who has been able to hire people with great attitudes,” Fox added.
Grocery chain Harris Teeter just announced that it will be operating on adjusted hours.
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Its website states: "Effective Wednesday, Sept. 15, until further notice, Harris Teeter’s temporary Store Hours of Operations will be 6 a.m. – 9 p.m."
