Where Are the Workers?
Restaurants, motels, curio shops close, limit hours and rooms for lack of staff
A curious thing happened on our recent road trip to New Mexico. Everywhere we went, we heard woeful tales of staff shortages at restaurants, hotels and tourist venues. A five-and-dime-store-style lunch counter at a gift shop in Taos’s central plaza had giant jars of dill pickles on display and a white-board menu advertising slush puppies and blended iced coffee, but it wasn’t open for breakfast, lunch or afternoon snacks. The 70-something-year-old woman at the cash register in the front told us the lunch counter had closed in March 2020 just as the pandemic began.
“When will it reopen?” we asked.
“Never,” she said. “We can’t find anyone to work!”
Usually there are three people working at the curio shop, but she’s all by herself these days. A lot of nearby restaurants and shops have cut hours and days for lack of staff, she said.
Michael, the 53-year-old waiter who brought us slices of pizza at the local pizzeria apologized for the half-hour wait.
“I’m sure you’ve heard what a nightmare it’s been for restaurants,” he said.
In the wake of the pandemic, many local places have closed, he said. Employees who were working there fled to Arizona and Texas, he claimed, because their more conservative governments were more lenient in allowing businesses to remain open during COVID outbreaks, while New Mexico’s Democratic governor ordered several shutdowns in response to spikes in infections and hospitalizations.
Michael told us he didn’t expect workers to return anytime soon to fill the open jobs because folks who fled have found steadier work and higher wages elsewhere. For others who have stuck around, it’s been a year and a half of unemployment checks. “And people have found they can make more not working,” he said.
And it’s not just restaurants that are coping with labor shortages.
At Inn on the Rio, a Taos motel (with an amazing breakfast!) that has been in operation for almost a quarter century—and where we stayed for five days—co-owner Robert Cahalane told us he was renting only six of his 12 rooms because he can’t find reliable housekeeping staff. One man he hired worked on Saturday, failed to return as scheduled on Sunday, then showed up a week later thinking he would still have a job.
High school kids have no interest in part-time work, Robert said, and ads for employment go unanswered.
Everywhere we went in both Taos and Santa Fe, there were “Help Wanted” signs, empty storefronts and shuttered restaurants.
At one of our favorite open restaurants in Santa Fe, Casa Chimayo Restaurante (the subject of my most recent post) the young couple, Benina and Joaquin Quintana, who took over the establishment earlier this year, depend on family and friends to help handle the service, while the two work night and day to prepare the food, taking turns caring for their 7-year-old daughter, Bella. They love what they do—and the food reflects it—but the stress level, high in restaurant work during the best of times, is even worse now.
“Honestly, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Benina said.
In Southern California, we’ve seen evidence of the same worker shortages, exacerbated by supply issues. Recently, one of our favorite local restaurant chains, Good Stuff, began reducing the number of offerings on its extensive menu and put out an email seeking employees for its four locations.
“We are currently on the hunt for friendly servers and hosts,” came the note in my in-box. “Know a friend in need of a great job? Pass this email along!”
San Francisco, one of our beloved travel destinations renowned for its food scene, has seen 50% of its restaurants close during the pandemic. The U.S. Cafe, one of my husband Jeff’s favorites going back to the 1970s, closed during the pandemic and has never reopened.
Selfishly, for those of us who count on excellent dining, lodging and shopping experiences when traveling or going out to eat or shop in our own neighborhoods, it’s alarming to witness the threat to the customer-as-king idea we’ve taken for granted over the years. That doesn’t even take into account how tough it is for the folks who own these businesses, have poured their hearts into making a go of them, and then are forced to shut them down.
Still, we had great service and amazing food almost everywhere we went in New Mexico, so somehow the restaurant owners and staffs are rising to the occasion. And there was a positive U.S. jobs report for October, showing that more than half a million jobs were added for the month, with leisure and hospitality particularly strong. So let’s hope things change. We who love to travel are counting on it!
Just a reminder to those of you who wonder if I’m ever going to start posting recipes again. With the end-of-year holidays almost upon us, you can count on it, beginning next week! Stay tuned—and please make sure to subscribe to receive future posts.
Made a trip to Santa Fe about six months ago. Super crowded 1.5 hour wait for every restaurant we went to. Actually gave up and went to Chikfila. After waiting in line 45 minutes, we gave up again and went to Sonic. Not exactly the dining experience we had hoped for. Left a day early. Oh well.
I enjoyed the article. I experience this everywhere I go and the way some people treat the remaining service people makes me wonder why they are staying. In my experience the majority of people used to just be ugly behind the screen where they could be nameless/faceless, but not anymore.