Labor Shortages Plague Local, National Businesses Businesses Deal With Labor Shortages

10 million job positions are open as of November, says the U.S. Labor Department

CHILEKASI ADELE: Ale ‘n’ Angus Pub lies a stone’s throw away from Syracuse’s tallest skyscrapers. It’s right across the street from U-M-U Arena.

Inside the 16-year-old establishment lies lots of festive holiday decor. Christmas music plays in the dining area and bar. Ale ‘n’ Angus’ owner Randy Beach can be seen doing paperwork, leaving to run deliveries for to-go orders, among other things.

His restaurant has become known for its Burgers. Burgers that have been voted best in the state in 5 of the last 9 years by the New York Beef Council. Even ESPN’s Jay Bilas said Ale ‘n’ Angus has one of the best burgers in any college town.

RANDY BEACH: “ It’s just nice to know that we have, kind of a nice following of student-athletes that eat here and that, think that much of our food.”

ADELE: While Ale ‘n’ Angus has racked up awards, financially, the business has had a rough time during the pandemic.

BEACH: “We were all but a couple of weeks from actually having to pull the plug and just say, ‘ we can’t do this anymore.”

ADELE: A business with prime location was all of a sudden in shackles. Pandemic restrictions brought capacity limits, among other things. Beach cut hours, and even downsized on staff because of the lack of revenue.

The restrictions have eased, however. Capacity is now at 100 percent again. But, there’s one BIG problem. Getting workers to come back.

Beach says he’s tried pulling out all the stops. He’s raised wages. He’s coordinated with the city’s Downtown Committee to offer a benefits package. But he says he’s competing with deep-pocketed giants.

BEACH: “Big business can afford — the McDonalds of the world — I mean, they can afford to go out and pay these people, big money.”

ADELE: Carl Schramm is a labor economist and University Professor at Syracuse University. He’s from Syracuse, and that sound you heard from him was China. Syracuse China. A Teacup made in Syracuse.

Schramm has seen the Salt City through its great economic times. High-paying jobs at places like Carrier and General Electric. And he sees it now. Struggling. Impoverished. Attempting to claw back. And now, a labor shortage on top of all of that.

Schramm says the lack of workers filling job positions is the result of bad government policy. Economic stimulants, like stimulus checks. He wants Washington out of it.

CARL SCHRAMM: I’d say markets are the thing that tells us what value people bring to the labor market. An artificial boost from the federal government has to hang there until the federal government runs out of money to keep the boost in place. And then, it will basically come back down to, ‘what is the value of the talents, and the skills, and the experience that people bring to the labor market? So, when the government boosts it, it becomes artificial.

ADELE: Wages are just one topic of discussion for why businesses are having trouble hiring workers. The U.S. Department of Labor said as of November of this year, 8.7 million people are out of work. Even if all those workers got jobs, there would still be 1.3 million openings nationwide.

The Labor Department says about 4 million Americans are saying goodbye to their current jobs monthly. Some of the reasons behind the mass exodus include the pandemic, wages, flexibility, and more.

Randy Beach believes that tides are changing. He’s been able to fill some positions, including a full-time server.

However, he says his staffing Rome won’t be built in a day.

BEACH: “It’s not gonna happen overnight, and it hasn’t happened overnight.”

ADELE: But until then, Beach plans to keep going. And he continues with gratitude. For all who helped the Pub on Harrison and Montgomery stay alive.

Chilekasi Adele, N-C-C News

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – The owner of one of Syracuse’s most lauded burger joints believes workers will eventually choose businesses like his over large, national chains.

Randy Beach, the owner of Ale ‘n’ Angus pub in downtown Syracuse, said that he can only go so far as to increase wages and offer benefits. He said that bigger companies, such as McDonald’s, Walmart, and Amazon can keep affording to offer higher pay, while small businesses don’t have the same capacity.

“They can come [to Ale ‘n’ Angus], and we typically start them out at minimum wage or a server minimum wage, whatever the minimum wage happens to be,” Beach said.”They can go there and make $15, $16, $17, $18 an hour.

“And, we’re just a small guy, we can’t pay stuff like that.” he added. “And, for what we’re selling, especially with the way that the labor rate is going up anyway, I’ve had to raise my people just to keep them. So, I can’t raise my menu fast enough or hard enough to get that money back.”

Beach believes that while it has been hard for businesses like his to attract workers, workers will realize the value of working for a small, local shop rather than a big box store or fast-food chain. He said that a couple of employees who he’s hired recently have expressed that sentiment.

“They’re willing to come work here and work for less money and have more hours and stable hours than they are to go there and get less hours and more money,” Beach said. “So, it’s kind of coming back around a little bit.”

Carl Schramm, a labor economist at Syracuse University, said what’s happening in the current job market in regards to increasing wages is positive, but it could possibly bring negative effects as well.

“The only reason that [wage increases] may not be a great thing is that you see a lot of subsidy for people to stay out of the labor market,” Schramm said. “So it’s artificially driving up what a franchisee might have to pay for somebody to be at the window at McDonald’s. And, if the federal government can’t continue that [COVID] subsidy, then that bubble breaks. Those wages are likely to go down because people will be looking around for jobs.”

 

Reported by
Chilekasi Adele

Chilekasi Adele

Chilekasi Adele is a sophomore Broadcast and Digital Journalism Major at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications. Adele is from Aldan, Pennsylvania -- a suburb of Philadelphia. When Chilekasi is not chasing a story for NCC News, he also spends time with other campus media organizations, such as CitrusTV, where he is an on-air talent in both the News and Sports Departments. Adele likes to spend time with friends and family in the meantime, and he is an avid Philadelphia sports fan.

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