When Brenda Sabbag posted an online ad for a part-time server position at her cafe, she expected near radio silence. After all, that’s how it had been for her and many other small businesses in the last two years. But to her surprise, the ad was flooded with responses: over a dozen resumes in a few days.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” said Sabbag, who owns Provencal Bakery and Cafe in Middletown. “With COVID-19 and the big unemployment, it was very difficult to get people to come to work.”
Difficult indeed.
Small businesses have been reporting labor shortages since 2020, which have given little to no sign of improvement. The food and hospitality industries have been hit particularly hard, with several hotels and restaurants reporting adjusted hours or closures due to lack of personnel.
According to a recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, which collected 456 responses between Dec. 8 and Dec. 12., 20% of small-business employers said they are currently experiencing a significant staffing shortage, down from 24% in March 2022. It’s a small improvement, but it gives many businesses some relief from the hiring challenges that have defined the last two years.
“I can name probably a dozen restaurants or small businesses that have openings no matter what,” said Rick Simone, executive director of the Rhode Island Small Business Coalition and president of the Federal Hill Commerce Association. “There is definitely still a shortage, but the shortage is not as dramatic this time of year as it was over the second, third and fourth quarters of last year.”
Evan Smith, CEO and president of Discover Newport, agrees. Around Newport, many hotels, restaurants and resorts suffered from the lack of foreign workers during the pandemic, but the return of international employees is bringing back some of that lost labor. And with projections of a strong tourism and travel season ahead, many small businesses in Newport are confident they will have the staff needed to meet the demand.
“Some businesses will reach 100% of their need, others may only get to [80%] to 90%, but that is growth over last year,” Smith said.
For Provencal Bakery, this surge of interest in the server position is relatively new.
Only last fall, it took Sabbag three months to hire a cook, a position that would take her mere weeks to fill prior to the pandemic. At any given time, she had multiple positions open, each remaining unfilled for long periods of time. The bakery, which now employs 15 people, at one point was staying afloat with a staff of seven employees.
Like many other businesses, Sabbag had to modify her hours to fit her reduced staff: the bakery went from being open seven days a week to five days a week.
“We saw across the board, whether it was a donut shop, a bakery or a restaurant or a gym, they basically just tried to modify things so that they can meet the demand and still satisfy the customers’ needs,” Simone said. “And I think all of these small-business owners did a tremendous job considering the challenges that they faced this past year.”
As business owners manage to fill their positions quicker and more easily, customers are likely to see a further return to normal business hours. Provencal Bakery is now able to open six days a week, still unable to match its pre-COVID-19 operations but in a better place compared with last year.
While some businesses are recovering, others are still scrambling to fill positions. At Blue Sky Spaworks, a wellness spa in Warwick, operations manager Trish Dubois has been trying to fill eight positions for three years now, from aestheticians and hair stylists to nail techs and massage therapists.
But despite working with local training schools and posting openings on a variety of job boards, most ads go unanswered. And when candidates do apply, they often fail to follow-up.
“We’ve been doing nothing but advertising for help,” Dubois said. “It’s not really getting any better.”
For Sabbag, while the interest in jobs has grown, the talent pool still worries her. Many applicants lack experience. Smith says it’s a phenomenon he has seen, too.
“A lot of people left the [hospitality] industry during COVID,” he said. “Now we see a lot of younger faces coming in, which is a promising thing, but a lot of them don’t present the experience you’d like them to have.”
Many businesses will choose to focus on training and workforce development to adapt to the surge of young and inexperienced candidates, Smith says.
Lindsay Russel, a spokesperson for the R.I. Commerce Corp., said many businesses are offering higher salaries, more benefits, a signing bonus, or more-flexible work arrangements.
“When shortages occur, it can be difficult for businesses to find the skilled workers they need to keep their operations running smoothly,” Russel said. “As a result, many businesses are forced to change their hiring practices in order to accommodate the changing labor market.”
While small businesses all over the state continue to grapple with rising prices and volatile sales, many look at the new year – and at the incoming season – with hope, particularly when it comes to the labor market.
“The majority of business owners that I’ve spoken to are much more optimistic about this new year than they were about last year,” Simone said.
