The struggle Cincinnati restauranteurs are having staffing their bars and restaurants was highlighted on a national stage Wednesday night. It happened during CNN's town hall with President Joe Biden, which lasted for over an hour. "We employ hundreds of hardworking team members throughout the state of Ohio and across the country, and we're looking to hire more every day as we try to restart our restaurant business," said John Lanni, owner of Thunderdome Restaurant Group. "The entire industry, amongst other industries, continue to struggle to find employees. How do you and the Biden administration plan to incentivize those that haven't returned to work yet? Hiring is our top priority right now."President Biden started his response by noting the federal government spent billions of dollars helping restaurants stay afloat."If you notice, we kept you open," he said.The president went on to talk about the career shifts many people are making due to the pandemic."A lot of people who work as waiters and waitresses decided that they don't want to do that anymore, because there's other opportunities at higher wages," Biden said. "And so I think your business and the tourist business is really going to be in a bind for a little while."Biden suggested business owners raise wages to attract workers.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio's unemployment rate increased from 4.7% in April to 5% in May and again to 5.2% in June. Despite that, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services tells WLWT Ohio is "solidly in economic recovery" and "on the right path."ODJFS said there are good signs in the latest jobs report: the civilian labor force has increased and more people are job searching. Billy Watson, the owner of Kitty's Sports Grill downtown is hoping his short-staffed woes end soon, especially with football season and fall events around the corner. "September could be very good," he said. "But ... we need a lot more people to work."Watson said his weekend business is inching towards normal but not so much during the week. "Our lunch and happy hours have been much slower than they were. There's still a lot of people working from home," he said. That makes staffing during business teams all the more critical."We've offered people like 'hey if you're here in five months, we'll give you $500 extra dollars,'" he said. "I don't know if it needs to get to the point where we pay somebody $20 an hour to cook and raise all our food, sandwiches by a dollar."
The struggle Cincinnati restauranteurs are having staffing their bars and restaurants was highlighted on a national stage Wednesday night. It happened during CNN's town hall with President Joe Biden, which lasted for over an hour.
"We employ hundreds of hardworking team members throughout the state of Ohio and across the country, and we're looking to hire more every day as we try to restart our restaurant business," said John Lanni, owner of Thunderdome Restaurant Group. "The entire industry, amongst other industries, continue to struggle to find employees. How do you and the Biden administration plan to incentivize those that haven't returned to work yet? Hiring is our top priority right now."
President Biden started his response by noting the federal government spent billions of dollars helping restaurants stay afloat.
"If you notice, we kept you open," he said.
The president went on to talk about the career shifts many people are making due to the pandemic.
"A lot of people who work as waiters and waitresses decided that they don't want to do that anymore, because there's other opportunities at higher wages," Biden said. "And so I think your business and the tourist business is really going to be in a bind for a little while."
Biden suggested business owners raise wages to attract workers.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio's unemployment rate increased from 4.7% in April to 5% in May and again to 5.2% in June.
Despite that, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services tells WLWT Ohio is "solidly in economic recovery" and "on the right path."
ODJFS said there are good signs in the latest jobs report: the civilian labor force has increased and more people are job searching.
Billy Watson, the owner of Kitty's Sports Grill downtown is hoping his short-staffed woes end soon, especially with football season and fall events around the corner.
"September could be very good," he said. "But ... we need a lot more people to work."
Watson said his weekend business is inching towards normal but not so much during the week.
"Our lunch and happy hours have been much slower than they were. There's still a lot of people working from home," he said.
That makes staffing during business teams all the more critical.
"We've offered people like 'hey if you're here in five months, we'll give you $500 extra dollars,'" he said. "I don't know if it needs to get to the point where we pay somebody $20 an hour to cook and raise all our food, sandwiches by a dollar."
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