Restaurants face uphill battle of finding enough workers

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Tuesday, June 15 marked a milestone for many businesses now able to open at full capacity.

"We're moving in the right direction. It seems like the worst is behind us," said George Nobile.

Nobile owns the restaurant Vito's New York Trattoria near the San Jose airport.

For him, the reopening optimism is a little hampered by an ongoing staffing shortage.

"We're at the point now that we really need employees more than we need more customers," said Nobile.

"Many restaurants can't even open to full capacity even if they wanted to because they are facing this employee shortage challenge," said California Restaurant Association President & CEO Jot Condie.

Condie says the industry was already dealing with a worker shortage before the pandemic and now faces several new challenges including workers who would rather collect unemployment along with those who have moved on to other industries.

He also says other workers face childcare challenges and ongoing fears of contracting the virus regardless of their vaccination status.

"It's sort of the perfect storm for our industry with all those variables," said Condie.

On California's much touted reopening day, the co-owner of 4th Street Pizza Co. in downtown San Jose said there really wasn't much of a difference.

"We're hanging on 'til the students come back, 'til the businesses come back. Downtown San Jose has a been a ghost town for 15 months," said co-owner Josh McGhie.

As for Vito's, Nobile said he is still six employees short.

And he and other owners say ultimately diners should expect bigger bills to cover increased labor and food costs.

In addition to raising prices, industry watchers say restaurants may offer more counter services instead of traditional servers, along with smaller menus to deal with the ongoing worker shortage.