Restaurants struggle to fill open positions as people choose to collect unemployment instead

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Restaurants across Rhode Island are struggling to fill open positions as people choose to instead collect unemployment during the pandemic.

Rick Simone, head of the Federal Hill Commerce Association, said on Federal Hill alone there are more than 300 open positions.

“Right now, there is a serious, serious shortage in the restaurant and hospitality industry as a whole,” said Simone.

Some people are applying to jobs, Simone said, but then being no-shows for the interviews, or declining the job offer after the interview process.

“From what we understand, our conversations with DLT is the average person is taking home just under $700 a week being on unemployment. People are not even showing up for interviews that they scheduled. Or if they do get an interview, they’re offered a job, they turn it down. So those are telltale signs that are scaring us across the board because anybody who wants a job right now, there’s a position for them.”

On Tuesday, Connecticut’s governor announced all restrictions but the mask mandate will be lifted on May 19, and Simone said he’s working to get Rhode Island to do the same but on a different timeline.

Simone, who has been working closely with the governor’s office since the start of the pandemic on restrictions, said he’s pushing for all restrictions, except masking, to be lifted by Mother’s Day weekend.

“Governor McKee is very small business-minded, he’s been very open to all the conversations, so is his Commerce team. So now we’re just working through Health and Commerce on behalf of the governor to figure out where we can go. We have proposed everything that you saw Connecticut is lifting. We’ve had a little different of a timeline. We were looking to have those restrictions lifted by Mother’s Day to go into a Mother’s Day weekend of some sense of regular behavior and comfort level,” Simone said.

© WLNE-TV 2021