DAYTON — Restaurants, bars, and retailers in the Miami Valley have had to make cuts to staffing during the pandemic.
Many couldn’t afford to pay their staff because dining in wasn’t allowed during a time COVID-19 rates were so high.
Now, some local businesses are still dealing with the impact of the pandemic.
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We spoke with Executive Chef Liz Valenti at Wheat Penny about the challenge she faced.
“Six months ago, I was feeling pretty pessimistic about staffing. Three months ago, even it was pretty dumb,” Valenti said.
She said people didn’t want to come back to work.
“We would place a job ad, we would get twenty people to apply for the position. I would personally speak to ten people, set up interviews, maybe out of those ten; two or three would show up, and then maybe one would show up for a paid working tryout,” Valenti explained.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 11.3 million job openings reported at the end of February.
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