Exactly! If you have the brains, work ethic, and luck to be a successful CEO, then the economy works great for you, your children, and your grandchildren. I'm happy for you--it's the American dream. But I'm sure you remember hundreds of hard working people from your company who had a tough time making ends meet, and it sounds like you know your grandchildren may not have the same college choices or real estate choices that your kids did. This is a real problem

The State knows exactly how many checks it writes to the unemployed.
Belknap County in May listed 430 unemployed.

By the middle of June, the State of NH has switched from enhanced unemployment to an incentive.

We are no longer even looking for the correct skill sets to achieve productivity, just warm bodies.

Perfectly said! I agree.

Even when we do get them... dealing with their scheduling desires and personalities is a huge trick.

It seems that no one wants to work a weekend... which seems so strange to me. So we have to adjust to that and all the customer profiles that fit them.

We just ran the numbers Saturday and found out that I have more sales volume than the other six members of my team.

Oddly, I take off a day mid-week, and my customer profile is anyone that is honestly interested in a product we sell.

I hear you.......last saturday at our drive-in there were three teenagers out.
1 soccer camp
1 family vacation
1 called in sick (posted FB video on the lake with friends)
The four that showed up really struggled

I had a Mobil gas station back in the 90's and had the same issues with help back then. The economy was booming, everyone was making and spending a ton of money.
My station was open from 6am to 10pm 364 days a year and I can honestly say I worked pretty close to all of them.
It was a constant battle to find and retain help because you're dealing with young kids that haven't decided on their future path so it's a revolving door.
We use to say, "hold a mirror up to their face and if they fog it up they got the job".
I had that business for 13 years, made a ton of money but I hated every minute of it!
When you have a family of 5 you do what you have to do.
I followed the the old Nike slogan, "just do it".

"Warm bodies"

Back in the day...

I was assigned to a new location that had a shortage of employees, mainly due to poor management.

While preparing the work schedule I found that there were a few shifts I could not cover.

Figuring that later in the week I might find someone to work, I labeled the shifts "Body" just to have a place holder.

A week later I came in for my closing shift and found the store to be quite upside down.

The obviously frazzled day manager, who was on his first shift at the location, greeted me with a litany of troubles.

As he unloaded his frustrations of the day his agitation increased to the level of full melt down.

He capped it off by shouting "and to top it all off this person named 'Body' never showed up for work!"

Welcome to Boston Rd my friend, it's a work in progress...




I am so happy to be a customer frustrated by the staffing shortages rather than a business owner or manager living it 24/7. :eek:

And not just the lakes region as Canopie lake park reduces its hours to five days vs seven and closes early other than Friday and Saturday

Ours isn't the teenager.
Seems that we have a decent sum of people having mid-life crises with underlying inferiority complexes.

I don't think there's any need for psychobabble—a whole bunch of people just reexamined their lives and reevaluated how they want to move forward.

I gotta say, if I was a cook in a hot kitchen making $10/hr. for 50 hours a week or a roofer with no benefits paid under the table or a whole host of other jobs with terrible working conditions and little life value, I'd be looking to fix it, too.

One last thing: this isn't just a blue collar thing, either—teachers, nurses, and other white collar professions are leaving in droves after "waking up" to how their employers treated them.

Here's a short article identifying the biggest areas being hit: https://www.fastcompany.com/90654925...at-resignation

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Well, they may be moving... but not by choice.
If they won't show up for work when scheduled, then they aren't even a warm body.

Summer Camp For Rich Kids Closes Due To Labor And Food Shortages
 

Interesting article...

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/su...food-shortages

Some choose to stay home
 

In response to worker shortages, some businesses, including some local restaurants, have been able to reduce hours and still be successful.

From the Laconia Sun:

https://www.laconiadailysun.com/news...ticle-nav-prev

How did this never make it to this thread?!

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/...-after-6-days/

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Because you need a subscription to read the Boston Globe Democrat!

Maybe because it's too sad, even for us? (haha)

One thing that screams out from the Globe article is the Camp Director's incompetence at multiple levels. I don't think labor shortages in general drove this, though they made it much tougher. Most glaring--the kids and staff didn't trust him, and that was before he tried to blame the whole thing on Sysco. Nobody stays open like that

Ummm...the story exists in other media outlets.

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Changes in a schedule is just one means of lowering the demand to fit the supply.

We've just begun what will be a serious process of lowering that demand through policy changes.

Here's an interesting article that touches upon a lot of what has been discussed here these last months:
https://www.wmur.com/article/hiring-...-2021/37613509

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it seems to me with NH low unemployment rate the only way to solve summer hiring is to allow more foreign residents to get temporary visas

Which is the way it was before Covid. Many places especially in the weirs had Eastern European employees like Kellerhaus had the past two seasons their employees were all locals.


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Yes, I was thinking the same thing. COVID has made getting foreign workers VERY difficult and the VISA process had previously tightened up, especially for relatively low skilled workers.

Further, last year's COVID problems was a huge mess. Yes, all countries had problems but America's image as THE place to come was tarnished. The resurgence this year has made it worse.

As the grandson of impoverished refugee immigrants, I agree we should let in more immigrants, especially those sponsored by employers.

One thing to keep in mind is that the reduced number of legal immigrants started with the Trump administration in 2017 or so, well before COVID. I'm pretty sure we had pre-COVID immigration debates on this Forum, or at least a number of references.

(Note that this is different than securing the border, etc--just referencing legal immigration here.)

Business will adapt.
The ones that adapt the fastest will come out ahead.

Adapt or Vanish
 

Some will adapt however I believe we will see many restaurants close as the owners are burned out and the profit margin too thin...add continuing staffing shortages in this industry= lot of closed places! :(

And now for the "chicken shortage"...
 

Not a lakes region restaurant, but this fits in with the theme of this thread.

We were back in Bedford, (NH), this past week and went out to one of the local rests for dinner. There was a sign on the hostess desk that had in big letters, "THE NATIONAL LABOR SHORTAGE". Their sign stated that due to the national labor shortage, seating capacity is limited, and people may be turned away. It was a Weds night and it was early-ish, so we had no problem getting a seat.

When the server came by to take our drink order, she said that due to the "national labor shortage", (her words), they hadn't received a food delivery in several days. As a result, there weren't serving any entrees, just appetizers, salads/soup, and sandwiches. We were ok with that, as we just wanted something light.

I decided to get the chicken wings appetizer and a caesar salad. When I asked the server the difference between the regular size and large size of wings, she said that, "due to the CHICKEN SHORTAGE, there were only about 8 wings on the regular size. I said, "chicken shortage??" "Oh yes!", she replied...

Fast forward to last evening...we went to Buffalo Wild Wings in Manchester...no chicken shortage there....!!

My wife and I went to Mexican restaurant the other day and included with the menu when we were seated was a laminated 81/2 by 11 card. The card stated they were “short staffed”. When the server returned to take our order I inquired as do you really think by hiring taller people will make things better. LOL things will get better hang in there.


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the restaurant industry will find the so called sweet spot with prices, how much they pay their help and hours. Some will close, some will do take out or delivery only if they can't get servers. My bet is we will have fewer restaurants , they will pay more to get help, they will charge more for meals and likely reduce hours or just serve like the VK did this summer breakfast and lunch. This will not be a crisis but as I continue to read articles of former restaurant employees they wont go back to the long hours, lower pay and stressful conditions especially with more unruly patrons .

new hires?
 

Cable news over the last several days is that Amazon, UPS, Macy's etc are hiring tens of thousands of workers, signing bonuses, shift differentials, benefits, etc. The Cannabis industry employment growth was up 38% over the last year. Sounds like restaurant workers who got laid off are going elsewhere. I used to love the cafeteria style restaurants in FL, Morrison's and Southern. Maybe that concept will spread? And service by robots? "There's an app for that".

Might be on my own here, I believe the Lakes Region has too many year round restaurants. The population has changed over the past twenty years, for the better I believe. Restaurants that remain will be smaller and offer a flexible menu. Big fan of few menu options and higher quality.


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Agree there is a similar article today in a Phx paper. They interview a few former restaurant employees and all have moved on to places like you list. The other class of restaurants that will survive are the mom and pops . I have an india restaurant i go to and husband, wife and daughter are the only employees. Good places like the VK with a seasoned owner will survive but as i said raise wages , increase prices some and reduce hours. It will sort out without government needed

The government role in it has already been playing out.

Seasonal business dependent on foreign workers are being squeezed, municipal and county employee staffing will cost more... thus more property tax, and the continuation of low interest rates driving housing and other leveraged backed consumption.

Please delete this picture I am sick of looking at it every time I open this app.


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Perhaps a pendulum swing
 

The restaurant industry has provided interim employment to a significant percentage of people all through time. With millions of health care, law enforcement, first responders. Etc… being fired due to vaccine reluctance, restaurants may soon experience a surge in applicants.

Tell me doctor… which wine do you recommend with this entree?

Unemployment benefits
 

If you're fired for lack of Vax, can you collect unemployment benefits? I see a mix of masked and unmasked in restaurant staff. "official guidance" seems to be more confusing than helpful, regardless of location or occupation. If potential workers don't get jabbed, will they wear a mask? The groups you mention, health care, LEO, first responders, are largely union. Will this impact their availability to collect benefits from their unions? I've always been a worker, not an employer, so my knowledge in this area is minimal.

Being fire over lack of VAX does not qualify for federal unemployment for fed workers. I am uncertain of the policy in the private sector or union. I assume there is a crossover with people who have already exhausted their entitlements consequent of what they collected over the past 18 months.

Forbes Article...
 

Good article from Forbes on this topic. The general rule of thumb has always been that if your job is eliminated or you are part of a layoff, you can collect unemployment, but if you are let go for "cause", (performance or violating company policies), you cannot. Seems most of the HR and legal experts are stating that if you go against the employer's vaccine policy, you cannot collect.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/perso...t-eligibility/

Staffing Issues for Summer of 2021
 

Don’t you wish you could hire them. Those medical workers who are released for holding to their principals will be welcomed at hundreds of other hospitals and medical professions throughout the country. Hopefully we get a few of them here


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Are there any regulations preventing me from converting one of my small dinning rooms to an exam-room and asking them to multi task?

Passed by Saturday was glad to see you had a nice crowd outside.


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