REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - Staffing shortages are well known, but statistics show just how bad they are. A new survey released by the Delaware Restaurant Association reveals ongoing struggles in the hospitality industry. It's been 3 months since the governor lifted COVID-19 restrictions but restaurants across the state and right in Sussex county are struggling to keep up with demand.
"The industry is more demanding than it was before,” said Sean Corea, executive chef at Nalu.
At Nalu, the summer has been quite busy, busier than year's past.
"The volume in the restaurants is actually more than before COVID, because we are still doing to-go, producing a lot more food, a lot more to-go drinks, and it needs a lot more manpower," said Corea.
The Delaware Restaurant Association’s Industry Operations Survey was conducted to better understand the challenges and opportunities in the hospitality industry.
DRA President and CEO, Carrie Leishman, said in a statement, "Restaurant operators are trying to meet consumer demand that exceeds 2019 with 6,000 fewer workers and skyrocketing labor and commodity prices."
"We've had a couple weeks where we definitely needed more bodies, and it's hard to find. We are not having people walk through the doors and fill out applications like they used to, we don't have the J-1's here as well. It's been tough and it's a lot of people here this year,” said Corea.
Below are a few findings from the survey:
87% of the hospitality industry is dealing with inadequate staffing.
80% of restaurants have closed or modified hours because of staffing shortages.
8 in 10 restaurants are operating at a staffing deficit of over 20% in their establishments.
"I wouldn't say we were 100% staff all summer, but we have been fortunate … so we have had a lot of returning employees. In the kitchen, we've been pretty fortunate I have to say," said Corea.
Nonetheless, Nalu is looking forward to the holiday weekend. The DRA says Delaware restaurants have lost more than $1.2 billion dollars in annual sales since March 2020.
