Help wanted: Western Pa. businesses hurting from lack of worker interest to fill open jobs

Dino’s Sports Lounge is in the same boat as so many other employers — competing to attract workers in a market made all the harder by covid-19 and an extra $300 a week in benefits being pocketed by eligible jobless workers.

“I can’t get people to apply,” said Dino DeCario, as a glowing sign outside his Greensburg restaurant beckoned needed workers, including cooks and dishwashers. “I’m at a loss.”

The situation has gotten so bad that DeCario was forced to close his location off Route 30 on Mondays to avoid burning out his existing staff. “Hopefully, it’s only temporary.”

Help-wanted signs bloomed curbside and in the windows of area businesses this spring as Western Pennsylvania and much of the nation slowly emerged from pandemic restrictions.

Staffing shortages have been evident throughout an array of industries, said Kelli Prucnal, vice president of Carol Harris Staffing, which has offices in Monroeville, New Kensington and Youngwood. The issue plagues clients in industrial manufacturing, hospitality, clerical and technical fields. The agency even has fielded fewer candidates pining to fill high-end positions.

“Almost all of our clients are looking for candidates right now,” Prucnal said. “It’s very hard to find candidates that want to work.”

Gene Barr, president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, sees the same trend.

“It’s not just in the restaurant industry. It’s in manufacturing, where they are paying $18 per hour, plus benefits,” he said.

Changing market

Many candidates who do land a job don’t always seem committed to keeping it, Prucnal said. With so many jobs available, some candidates want a test drive before committing.

Hiring can always be difficult, she said, but it has been particularly problematic during the pandemic.

The lack of employees has forced an Armstrong County restaurant, Tony’s Pizza Café in Buffalo Township, to end delivery services because they don’t have enough employees, said waitress Natalie Nee.

“It’s a lot harder. Customers have to wait a little extra,” she said.

The Alle-Kiski Valley establishment can relate to the predicament faced by DeCario, who also has a restaurant in Unity. It has felt the effects of a staffing shortage for about five months. The pizza shop wanted to hire at least three workers — but can’t even find people willing to apply.

“We’ve had helped wanted signs up for longest time,” Nee said.

There were 175 openings in full-service restaurants and limited service restaurants in March in the Westmoreland-Fayette area, according to the most recent data from the state’s Center for Workforce Information and Analysis. The dearth of applicants comes at a time when Westmoreland saw 828 people in the same sector file new or continued unemployment claims on May 1, state figures show.

Hotel and food service businesses in Allegheny County posted 239 job openings in March, followed by 3,183 workers in the same industry filing new or continued claims May 1, records show.

More than three-quarters of restaurants in Pennsylvania are finding it hard to fill job openings, according to a recent report from the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association. Overall, 93% are below pre-covid staffing levels, the trade group said.

Now that customers are starving for in-person dining again, DeCario said, he needs workers to serve them. He needs to fill more than a dozen wait staff and kitchen positions.

Waiting game

It’s not that there is lack of unemployed workers in the region. Allegheny County had 44,000 jobless workers in March, Armstrong had 2,400 and Westmoreland County had 12,500, according to unemployment data from the state, as adjusted for seasonal hiring factors.

Many Pennsylvanians, however, still are waiting to complete the full vaccination process. Others are facing various pandemic-related challenges that prevent them from rejoining the workforce, such as children in remote learning from home or a lack of child care, said Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for Gov. Tom Wolf. Others are reconsidering their career options and placing a higher value on pursuing higher-quality jobs that might require upskilling or training, Kensinger added.

Rather than blaming workers for not returning to their jobs in the food service industry, Ben Fileccia, director of operations for the state’s Restaurant and Lodging Association, puts the blame on state restrictions implemented last year to stop the pandemic. Restaurants were closed to inside dining in March 2020, open for limited capacity in June and closed to indoor dining for the busy Christmas holiday season.

“There was a lack of confidence in their job security as a result of Gov. Wolf’s mitigation initiatives,” Fileccia said.

Add to that mixture of challenges the fact that food service workers have been asked to do more, Fileccia said.

“They have been tasked with enforcing mask mandates and social distancing,” he said.

The minimum wage today is essentially a “talking point,” DeCario said. He can’t compete for workers by offering $7.25 an hour — still the legally prevailing wage by the U.S. government and in Pennsylvania.

“We offer $10 an hour to $18 an hour across the board, plus health benefits,” he said.

Competition is stiff, with national chains such as Burger King offering a $1,500 signing bonus — something unheard of until now in the restaurant business.

Even before the pandemic, “a vast majority (of restaurants) were above minimum wage,” Fileccia said.

To keep its workforce and fill some 2,000 open positions, the Altoona-based Sheetz Corp. raised wages by $2 an hour for its 18,000 workers at 622 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

“To attract and retain top talent, we know we need to continue to invest in our employees,” said Travis Sheetz, company president.

Giant Eagle Supermarkets has about 1,700 positions open for immediate employment across a wide range of full- and part-time positions in its stores and retail support centers in the Pittsburgh region, the O’Hara-based company said.

“Although the current hiring climate is challenging, we have recently seen an increased number of applications and are typically able to convert between 65 and 75 percent of those that attend our job fairs, conduct remote interviews, or apply in our stores,” the company said in a statement.

Staffing workers

Some employers are turning to assistance from organizations such as the Employment Institute in McKeesport, which helps people obtain and maintain jobs.

“So far this year, we have placed 100% of our job-seeking employment. There are definitely jobs out there,” said Abigael Wolensky, deputy director.

To attract applicants, employers are offering incentives for workers who are willing to show up and stay, said Prucnal, of Carol Harris Staffing.

“If you’re looking for work, there’s definitely opportunity here,” she said.