What's up with the food service labor shortage in Colorado?
Due to a severe labor shortage in the local food service industry, two Denver-area businesses have had to temporarily close up shop this past week.
While Ohana Island Kitchen only had to shut down for one day, Grateful Bread Company in Golden is not so lucky -- the owner there says they will remain closed until July 13 so he can hire and train an almost entirely new staff.
The bakery needs between 12 and 14 bakers to support the bread production for the 60-some restaurants and hotels it serves, owner Jeff Cleary told 5280. But right now? His staff is down to four.
“I need to let my crew rest, hire more workers, and train them,” Cleary said, explaining that he's stepped up his own hours drastically over the last few weeks in the wake of employee illnesses and other setbacks. “... I can’t [train new employees] if I’m baking all day long."
He estimates that the weeks-long closure will cost Grateful Bread about $150,000 in revenue.
Across town, in LoHi, the Ohana Island Kitchen poke restaurant had to make a similar decision for one day, due to staff absences:
"We are sorry and embarrassed that this is an issue," Ohana posted on social media, "however, we literally cannot keep our kitchen staffed to save our lives. This is an extremely tough time to be a small restaurant in a market with surplus kitchen openings, low unemployment and a smaller pool of qualified talent. #restaurantlife #restaurantproblems @eater_denver We feel your pain @gratefulbreaddenver"
Ohana's owners Louis and Regan Colburn told 5280 that they need five or six kitchen workers to operate, but they regularly struggle to find reliable labor -- or even find people who will show up for a scheduled interview.
"It’s an environment in which people can burn bridges without consequences,” Louis Colburn stated.
In fact, most restaurants and fast-casual eateries across the Denver metro area are experiencing an almost-revolving door of workers.
Whether it's all the high-paying marijuana jobs or the over-saturation of restaurants combined with the current low unemployment rates, food service labor is certainly taking a beating. Employees are always looking for better-paying opportunities for less stress -- and in general, the food service and restaurant industry just doesn't fit that bill.
What do you think about the labor shortage? Have you been affected by either of these closures? Do you know of any other businesses being forced to close for lack of labor? Please tell us in the comments below!
