On a typical week in pre-pandemic times, about 15 people would walk into one of Patrick Whalen's casual elegant restaurants seeking a job in the kitchen.
www.cnn.com
Yeah, one group in Montana proved it was low wages and NOT unemployment keeping workers away:
For some businesses, especially mom-and-pop shops like Black Cat Bake Shop in Missoula, Montana, there's a ceiling to how much they can raise wages, said co-owner Christy Wich, who runs the bakery with her husband, Jack. Considering margins are as thin as pasty flakes, any increases in expenses would have to get passed along to the customers, she said.
And in Montana, a $6 cinnamon roll just wouldn't fly, she added.
Black Cat did increase its wages for its open jobs to $10.50 and $11.50 an hour, which are above Montana's minimum wage of $8.65, but has still struggled to find workers, a challenge that was
first reported by the Missoulian newspaper.
"The public wants to support us, they want those items, but we don't have the workforce, the hands to make all of that," she told CNN Business.
Wich said she's hopeful that Governor Greg Gianforte's
recent decision to remove the state from the federal unemployment program of extended benefits will help to push more people back into the workforce.
5th Street Group's Whalen has taken a unique approach to trying to solve worker shortages and ease low-wage concerns.
Last month, 5th Street Group announced a guaranteed minimum wage of $15 per hour and established the "Tip the Kitchen Initiative," which adds a second line on the receipt to give patrons the opportunity to also toss some cash to the back-of-the-house staff. In 19 days, the second tip line amounted to nearly $40,000 for 5th Street's kitchen workers.
"One of my big regrets in life is that we didn't think of this way, way sooner," he said.
The moves have been good for business, too, Whalen said.
Last week, 20 job-seekers came through Tempest's doors. His restaurants are fully staffed.
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