GREENSBORO, N.C. — Several Greensboro restaurants are looking for help as restrictions ease and the unemployment rate goes down.
A list was compiled in the Greensboro Takeout Facebook page of restaurants looking to hire for every position, ranging from delivery drivers to servers and bartenders, to chefs.
Salvino Cucina Italiana is one of the restaurants hiring for several positions, but owner Mary Speaker said it hasn't been that easy.
"Very tough. I mean I've been on zip recruiter indeed I'm even investigating craigslist and there's not a lot out there," said Speaker, "I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that when a lot of people got laid off they needed to find work so they may have gone into another career."
Still, Speaker has pushed to find help. She has an interview coming up for a server position and said her husband will also be looking for more kitchen staff soon.
Speaker said watching the numbers trend down and vaccines roll out, they're hiring now to prepare for possible further ease of restrictions in the next few months.
"We heard of all the vaccines that are now becoming available and they're opening that up larger to accommodate more people we realized, 'Uh oh, we need to really start thinking about this,' because what we thought was maybe July. We think now it could be as early as May and that’s nothing more than gut telling us we need to be ready and that’s two months."
The Brooklyn Pizzeria is also looking for new hires.
Owner Dennis Studer said he always needs extra hands to run deliveries and is looking for about two to three people right now to welcome onboard.
After keeping most of his employees as close family and friends due to the pandemic, he said the vaccines rolling out has given him hope that things will slowly get back to normal again.
"As the vaccines start rolling out more and I’m hoping more and more people I know are taking them. I think that’ll help start decreasing the spread I think that’s really the key. Having that in the back of my mind is a little bit of comfort," said Studer, "I know people are hurting without getting the help they need because I know not everyone has access to jobs. I’m hoping this will help to kind of get some of them to come out and make some extra money here and there."
Still, the bounceback hasn't been everything Studer has wanted. The past several months have been tough as business owners were forced to cut down hours.
"Stressful. Just between having to cut down the hours and trying to get things done in a timely manner within the hours of operation and not having the resources, our normal availability for food items," said Studer.
He asks everyone to continue showing patience for small business owners, especially in the restaurant industry, as they work to keep up and keep things safe for customers and staff.
"Be patient. We're all trying and I know a lot of places you hear stories and just give them the best that you can. It's not all easy peasy. It’s a struggle and we're all going through it. We’re open. We're making some money but it's not what people think it is right now. It’s a lot of stress," he said.
While the last year has been a struggle for many business owners, many are hopeful better days are on the horizon.
"We're excited. We're excited about what the future has in store for us because we're confident that with the longevity of this restaurant already, and the new folks that are coming to visit us and dine with us we feel really good about the future, but we want to make sure we're prepared with our staff to be able to accommodate when we're allowed to go back to full house dining," said Speaker.