Local businesses face recruitment challenges in light of Step 2 restart

June 18, 2021

As B.C. inches closer to Step 2 of its COVID-19 reopening plan that would include larger indoor and outdoor gatherings with a maximum of 50 people, local businesses in Metro Vancouver are struggling to meet their employee recruitment needs.

The province has tabled Tuesday as the earliest date for Step 2 and it’s been a cause of worry for Cameron Forsyth, co-owner of Portland Craft. Forsyth has been seeing more customers at his pub on Vancouver’s Main Street but realizes the staff shortage wouldn’t let him operate through the week.

“It’s just really difficult to hire people right now, especially kitchen, there’s just not a lot of people that are out there looking for work,” Forsyth said. “We’re getting busier but we don’t have enough staff to be able to open seven days a week.”

He’s been posting job applications for servers and kitchen staff on social media but hasn’t received much engagement. Over the last three weeks, they have received only eight applications for kitchen staff. Nine months ago, the same job had garnered 50 applications. The pub needs at least four servers to prepare for the increased traffic but have only received one application so far. Forsyth speculates that government benefit programs like CERB have added to these jobs being vacant.

Source: Vancouver Sun