Originally Posted by
beachmouse
The summer tourist season in the Florida panhandle has long functioned on the backs of H2B visas- typically college kids fro ma middle income country (Brazil, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria) who were here both for the money and because time spent working in America and really fluent language skills that often brought better job opportunities once they graduated. Summer unemployment here typically runs less than 4% so nope, not taking jobs away from local Americans.
Living in Panama City, I’ve met quite a few of them. The same was true in East Tennessee - I was amazed at all the Eastern European accents behind the counters in Gatlinburg. It’s funny though, growing up it was different. There, Cape Cod was the place with a low population and high demand for seasonal restaurant and shop workers. I had friends that filled those roles between semesters of college and after high school, living in cramped dormitories and surviving Campbells soup and Wonder bread.
At least the Eastern Europeans are understandable. Not at all like the Comcast (or fill in the blank) call centers in India and the Philippines. Those workers seem to have larger English vocabularies but much thicker accents.
Originally Posted by
JBord
The most interesting part of your post is "no one wanted to work there". The questions are why does no one want to work there, and is that the same at other restaurants in the area? Is it that one restaurant isn't a competitive employer, or is job supply higher than demand (or both)?
Ultimately, restaurants will find a way to give people what they want, both customers and employees. If one can't, someone else will figure it out and replace it. The beauty of a free market.
The story behind the “I don’t want to work there” is likely a combination of poor hours, poor pay, no benefits and poor patronage. The Subway in the same shopping center has cut back hours due to lack of help. I have read less than stellar reviews of the places that are failing to attract employees. That keeps the crowds low, and it’s a vicious cycle. Some of these places won’t recover, no matter what and might not deserve to.
I have been hoping that the places that close will reopen with new owners, new concepts. There will have to be some very good deals on spaces and equipment after the big shake out. But without employees, possibly not.
I’m a little tired of takeout after twice a week for a year. One way we are coping is lunch at 3 in the afternoon. Places are open and uncrowded. Service is respectable and the food comes out pretty quickly as well.