Guy Joudrie and Jag Thind run successful restaurants – both are multiple Cochrane Eagle Readers’ Choice Award Winners – and they both struggle with staffing to keep their businesses afloat.
They give a lot back to the community and are always on the go.
Joudrie, who last week alone could be seen at two events in aid of more than 20 local charities and service providers, somehow finds time to run Guy’s Café and Bakery.
At one event last week, offering up a smoked salmon hors d’oeuvre, he told The Eagle he’s having a lot of trouble finding staff.
In an interview this week, Joudrie reiterated that comment, and shared some insights into the present situation.
Pre-COVID, he said he had 30 employees. He went from 30 to two when the pandemic hit; now he has 15.
“It hurts to lay off good staff,” he said.
He believes one side effect of the pandemic may have been the work ethic of twenty-somethings – something he argues was impacted by the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.
“Justin [Trudeau] didn’t make it very hard for them, making $2,000 a month for doing nothing.
“Why work when you can find a way to get money from the government?” he asked.
Aside from the political commentary, Joudrie said there’s a societal issue at play. Some people have expectations that may not mesh with the reality of the restaurant business.
He had a customer ask if he’d hire their child, and he said to bring in a resume.
“He said, ‘Well, they won’t work for less than $20 an hour,’ and I asked how old was the child, and he said ’14,’ so I said they’d have to work somewhere else.”
And while he’s grateful for his core of “good staff,” Joudrie is aware they could be subject to burnout if they work too hard too long, which isn’t good for them or the business.
It all comes down to the number of service businesses in town and expectation levels, he added.
“I’m sure Jag is the same way I am – I expect my staff to work,” he said.
Joudrie has noted a decline in general willingness to work from when he started 22 years ago.
“It used to be one in 15 (staff) was a keeper; now it’s one in 50.
“Generational? Don’t know. But it seems that work ethic is not taught as aggressively as it was when we were kids,” he said.
In an October 2021 report, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives tracked monthly labour-force numbers per industry. There was a steep decrease in food-services workers from Feb. 2020 to Sept. 2021 that mirrored an almost-equally steep increase in professional services workers.
So restaurant workers may want to work, but have found jobs that pay better with more opportunity for advancement.
The report states: “For example, a former restaurant server could become an office manager or secretary. It may also be that those servers have post-secondary education training in these other industries and that repeated shutdowns in food and accommodation [sectors] pushed them into other jobs.”
Thind was honoured in September with a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award pin, given to recognize his service to the community.
He owns and operates the popular Mehtab East Indian Cuisine restaurant, along with other businesses in town.
Over a recent plate of butter chicken, he agreed staffing has become more difficult since COVID hit, but it has always been difficult. He talks to friends and business owners in Calgary who are having similar staffing challenges.
When restaurants were allowed to fully open again after being shut down by COVID, he got five responses to an ad for servers. The first one he hired – a young man – went for a break on his first day and never came back.
The second young man said during the interview that he didn’t think he could do the job, prompting Thind to wonder why he had applied in the first place.
He said he has trouble finding someone with his work ethic. When he opened the restaurant, he used to work 12 hours a day. He now owns a liquor store and moonlights as a realtor, in addition to overseeing the restaurant.
Thind said people who do consider coming from Calgary to work in Cochrane are more attracted to big companies like Walmart, where they may be looking for long-term promotional opportunities.
“People don’t see as much of a future (in a restaurant),” he said.
When the pandemic hit and restaurants were closed to sitting customers, Thind said he kept his entire kitchen staff working, even though it was just for takeout orders.
All of his serving staff came back after the restrictions were lifted.
The secret to staff retention, he said, is to find out what they want, and give it to them.
That means, for example, if he hires university students and business is slow, they can find a quiet corner and catch up on their reading assignments or study for an upcoming test.
“The only thing I’m looking for is a good attitude. They can learn everything else,” he said.
