Mother's Day Rush Highlights Staffing Shortages At North Texas Restaurants
COLLEYVILLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Mother's Day is one of the most popular days of the year to dine out, and restaurants across North Texas were grateful for the crowds, especially after a tough year.
However, they're struggling to find enough staff to meet the demand.
"Trying to get anyone, from a server to a line cook to a host to a dishwasher, has been quite the challenge," said Nate Nwaeze, general manager of Chef Point in Colleyville.
It was all hands on deck at the restaurant on Sunday.
To manage what's typically the busiest day of the year with limited staffing, Nwaeze says the restaurant had a smaller menu and made sure not to over seat people in different sections of the restaurant.
He's also offering incentives to current staff to bring in people who can work.
"Especially for busy days like this, if we can get them to come in for a day and help us out for the afternoon," Nwaeze said. "Because some people have family members that came in and helped us do dishwashing, helped us do prep work."
Chef Point is not alone in this dilemma.
Restaurants across North Texas are having a hard time finding people to work for them.
Many employees got into different industries when the pandemic shut down and plan on staying with their new jobs. Others may still be struggling with childcare issues and helping kids with online learning.
Restaurants are also competing with current unemployment benefits, so they're finding new incentives to make new hires.
"With the job market being extremely tight, we have to come up with more creative ways to attract people to want to come back," said Nikky Phinyawatana, owner of Asian Mint.
Restaurant managers and owners are hopeful the labor shortage will get better in the next few months, especially as more and more people feel comfortable dining out and demand increases.
"As much as your customers and your guests are important, your staff is important as well because if you don't have a good staff, you're not going to have happy guests," said Nwaeze.
