From Jersey Shore to Great Barrier Reef, businesses ask: Where's the
help?
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[May 28, 2021] By
Joseph Ax and Swati Pandey
ASBURY PARK, N.J./SYDNEY (Reuters) - For
more than a year, New Jersey restaurateur Marilyn Schlossbach has been
waiting for this moment: The U.S. Memorial Day weekend marks the
unofficial start of the Jersey Shore's summer season, and the state is
finally lifting indoor capacity limits as the coronavirus pandemic
eases.
But the 56-year-old is pulling tables off the dining room floor, closing
one of her restaurants an extra day a week and postponing the seasonal
opening of another – all because she cannot find enough workers to
operate her eateries.
"On Friday night, I left one of the venues and cried for 24 hours," said
Schlossbach, who estimated she is still down about 50% from her normal
staffing level at this time of year. "I’m just so overwhelmed – I feel
like I'm underwater."
Half a world away, the state government in Queensland, Australia, is
offering A$1,500 bonuses, free travel vouchers and discounted
accommodation to entice people to go "Work in Paradise."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/May/28/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
"From chefs, waiters and bartenders through to tour guides and deckhands
on the Great Barrier Reef, there are plenty of great jobs up for grabs,"
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in launching the program.
Many of the world's major economies are shaking off the cobwebs from
more than a year of hibernation as the COVID-19 pandemic raged. But the
sector hit hardest by all the lockdowns - leisure and hospitality - is
running into a new problem just as it gets the government greenlight to
reopen: not enough workers.
Exactly what is driving the phenomenon is a matter of intense debate
among economists, policymakers and politicians. Some point to ongoing
health worries about returning to work in high-touch businesses, but
other explanations include generous unemployment benefits, child care
constraints, fewer international workers and competition from other
sectors like construction that have held up well throughout the
pandemic.
'REAL SKILL SHORTAGE'
The latest government data showed U.S. job openings in leisure and
hospitality totaled a record 1.2 million in March, but employers in the
sector added just 331,000 workers to their payrolls in April, signaling
hundreds of thousands of positions went unfilled.
It's a similar story Down Under. Overall job openings in Australia are
at their highest in more than 12 years and roughly 45% above
pre-COVID-19 levels.
Australia’s early success in curbing the coronavirus pandemic allowed
authorities to open the economy, including pubs, bars and restaurants.
But a smaller pool of foreign workers due to the closure of
international borders means hospitality staff are highly sought. In
fact, that segment recorded the largest increase in job ads in April, up
nearly 10%, government data showed.
The absence of foreign workers is a common theme.
In Britain, where in some cities there are 10 jobs in the sector
available per job seeker, the job search website Adzuna estimates there
were about a quarter million fewer applicants from Western Europe and
North America than before the pandemic.
"We were challenged with Brexit; prices have gone up and there's a real
skill shortage in the UK," Michelin-rated chef Clare Smyth said about
the departure of experienced restaurant staff back to Europe.
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![](../images/052821PIX/busine37.jpg)
A sign advertising available positions outside The Salty Whale &
Guesthouse in Manasquan, New Jersey, U.S., May 25, 2021.
REUTERS/Joseph Ax
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/May/28/images/ads/current/graue_21ENCLAVE_051721.png)
Meanwhile, in southern New Jersey, Vicki Clark, the president of the Cape May
County Chamber of Commerce, said there are typically about 2,500 foreign
students who fill seasonal jobs in that popular summer destination. Due to a
pandemic-fueled backlog, the U.S. State Department has processed far fewer
seasonal worker guest visas than usual, and Clark estimated there are fewer than
100 students confirmed this year.
Not everywhere is experiencing the labor squeeze, at least yet.
In Spain, for instance, hundreds of thousands of workers in the tourism sector
are currently in furlough schemes and will simply be recalled to work for the
summer, when tourist arrivals are in any case expected to fall well short of
pre-pandemic levels.
Greece is also on a mission to salvage its summer season. With unemployment at
16%, the hospitality sector has not so far raised any concerns about a lack of
staff.
MASSAGES FOR STAFF
In New Jersey beach towns such as Long Branch, Asbury Park and Point Pleasant
Beach, "Help Wanted" signs dotted dozens of storefront windows and boardwalk
stands this week, just as tens of millions of recently vaccinated Americans
prepare to head for the Jersey Shore and other holiday hotspots around the
country.
About 37 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this weekend,
up 60% from a year ago, according to AAA. While still 13% below Memorial Day
2019, the weekend kicks off a summer that may look and feel increasingly normal.
The number of travelers checked onto airplanes by the Transportation Security
Administration has been on a steady climb towards 2019 levels and now stands at
roughly 70%.
Public events have begun reopening. Major League Baseball, which kicked off its
season with strict attendance limits of around 20% in most stadiums, this
weekend will see a wave of full stadium reopenings, and 21 of 30 ballparks are
slated to drop their attendance restrictions https://tmsnrt.rs/3fryedF by early
July.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/May/28/images/ads/current/crmmaterials_sda_DAILY_051221.png)
And just this week, seated diners at restaurants topped the 2019 level for the
first time since the onset of the pandemic, according to data from reservation
site OpenTable.
Ordinarily that would be music to the ears for Schlossbach in New Jersey, but
she doesn't have the staff to keep up. She paid for massages for her exhausted
team after they clocked about 60 hours in the span of four days last weekend.
"I don’t know how they're going to sustain this for another three months," she
said. "After the year we had, to now be up against this challenge – I don't know
how much more the industry can take."
(Additional reporting by William Schomberg, Kate Holton and Mark John in London;
and Howard Schneider in Washington; Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
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