A Galway food business has had to reduce its opening hours by up to 25 per cent because of a lack of staff.
The Chili Shack, a restaurant that has been based in Galway city for the past six years, has been short-staffed since reopening following the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Managing director Raymond Curry said the accommodation crisis was a factor in the lack of available staff.
“You find people in situations where they cannot afford rent to live in cities, so your younger generations, students etc, that would have traditionally filled positions during the summer are not living in the city centre during their summer holidays,” he said. “They are moving back home.”
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Last week Mr Curry lost one member of staff because of this issue. “They moved to Limerick instead, because it was nearly €150 cheaper.”
He added that the job uncertainty caused by Covid-19 led to potential employees looking to other sectors for work, such as factory work in Galway.
“People are opting for more of that type of work because of the certainty of it, even in contract work, so there are certain aspects like that to take into consideration,” Mr Curry said.
The Chili Shack is looking in to reducing online platforms to focus more on in-house revenue. “When you look at third-party delivery systems, you’re giving out commissions etc. You aren’t really getting the value for money that you would have in terms of customer spend in-house versus the commission you would lose on your takeaway,” Mr Curry said.
There needs to be a shift in how people look at the industry, he said. “In the case where there’s not an appreciation for the work any more, be under no illusion, some restaurateurs have only themselves to blame on that – there are some very shrewd people out there.”
He also said “no one could live on the minimum wage in the current crisis that we are in – it would be a tall order”.
Mr Curry describes the post-Covid combination of inflation, staffing and employees’ expectations of the job as the perfect storm.
“Especially in younger generations – 18- or 19-year-olds – this is their first job. Traditionally, people would have their first job at age 15 or 16. They get a shock to the expectation of the real working world, through no fault of their own,” he said.
“As the business owner you have to weigh up between whether it is better to hire one skilled employee or do you hire two unskilled employees?”
Mr Curry added that, having run his own business in Galway for six years, he “would not have expected at this stage of the game to be in the kitchen working 70 hours a week.”