The labor shortage caused the closure of a BBQ restaurant in Orlando.
Bodacious Bar-BQe Bubbalou stated that it had only four employees and had already reduced its hours.
The owner stated that despite paying more than any restaurant I know of, no one wants work.
Check out more stories from Insider's business page.
According to its owner, a BBQ restaurant in Winter Park, Florida was closed after four of its employees left.
According to a Facebook post, Bubbalou’s Bodacious Bar-B-Que listed three other Orlando-area eateries on its website. However, the Winter Park location was closed earlier in September.
Boo McKinnon wrote that the restaurant's owner had written in the post, "Business has been off significantly, but the most difficult part being inability to hire staff to hire."
McKinnon stated in a Facebook post that "We closed our Winter Park shop with a whopping 4 employees." McKinnon didn't say how many employees she had previously employed at her restaurant.
McKinnon stated in the post that "despite paying more than any restaurant, no one would like to work", without revealing how much she paid her staff.
Insider's Ben Gilbert reported in July that the phrase "nobody want to work anymore" was used as a scapegoat for all the problems plaguing America's labor market.
McKinnon would not reveal the exact amount of staff paid to her, but she said that hourly employees were paid in double digits. She said that Winter Park managers were paid at least the same level as "high end" restaurants.
"We enjoyed a 35-year run in Winter Park, and we are grateful for each year. The labor shortage is real. It is very real," she said to Insider, adding that other local restaurants have also reduced their hours.
McKinnon stated in the Facebook post that the restaurant had previously reduced its opening hours to just three days and two days per week. She said, "It wasn’t by design. It was simply due to our lack of staff and can’t find any."
Continue the story
Bubbalou's stated that it would move its remaining Winter Park employees into its Apopka restaurant.
McKinnon seemed to partially blame the government for the restaurant's shortage of workers.
McKinnon wrote, "Damn you pandemic" and the political machine that made it more attractive to not work rather than to be a part of the country's workforce. It's sad. It has terrible results."
In June, Florida stopped paying benefits including a $300 weekly payment. Mark Wilson, the CEO of Florida's Chamber of Commerce said the decision would help fill thousands of these vacancies, and aid in ending the state's worker shortage.
Florida companies, along with other states, that have cut benefits early, claim that they are still having difficulty finding staff months later.
Workers claim that they are being forced to quit their jobs because of low pay, poor benefits, and limited hours.
Restaurants have been particularly hard hit.
According to preliminary data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics, August saw a decline in the number of Americans working in bars, restaurants, and cafes across the US. This was the first time since April 2020. This was the biggest drop in employment in all nonfarm sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and healthcare.
Business Insider has the original article.
