Must be why all the work visas were in the immigration reform package.
"Upscale restaurants can’t find workers; Despite jobless rate, facilities scramble to fill high-skilled positions and part-time shifts" by Taryn Luna | Globe Correspondent, November 12, 2013
At many upscale restaurants in the Boston area, that seems to be the case. Even with 250,000 people out of work in Massachusetts, restaurant owners say they have vacancies for positions ranging from part-time host to experienced sous chef.
Hey, look, it's an elite paper for an elite audience.
Economists cite several factors for the job-employee gap: a mismatch between the part-time jobs available and the full-time work most people need, a lack of skilled chefs, and restaurateurs who are being too choosy.
The hiring situation is dramatically different from just a few years ago. Back then, restaurants that managed to make it through the recession had their pick of top-notch workers from competitors that went out of business or were forced to cut staff.
With the improving economy and a rise in consumer confidence, people are eating out more frequently. That has led to an influx of new establishments....
I never go out to eat anymore. Can't afford it.
Lack of experience might not matter much for most jobs at Dunkin’ Donuts, but it is crucial for an establishment like Puritan & Company in Cambridge, which earlier this year received a prestigious James Beard Award nomination for best new restaurant in the United States....
I under$tand.
Besides, you don't want to work at a Dunkin' Donuts in Boston anyway.
All the surveillance and they can't catch the D&D robber?
Labor specialists agree. They say demand for top-skilled chefs is outstripping supply as the industry rebounds from the downturn....
Last year, there were 1.8 job seekers for every opening in the restaurant industry statewide, a relatively low rate compared with other sectors. But a closer look at that data shows more than two-thirds of openings were for part-time work, while the majority of unemployed people were seeking full-time positions.
No doubt Obamacare has something to do with it.
“People are not willing to take a part-time job that is low- wage when they have a house to pay and a family to feed,” said Andrew Sum, director of Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies.
Sum is reluctant to say there is a labor shortage in the restaurant industry, since there are more unemployed workers than jobs and wages have not risen in 12 years. He believes restaurants could fill many positions simply by offering more hours and a little extra training. It might just be that they are creating unreasonable requirements for too little pay, he said.
“It’s hard for me to argue that the shortage isn’t self-contrived,” Sum said.
(Blog editor's reaction was a "No!" in absolute amazement. A U.S. industry or business pursuing profit by way of deceit)
But....
(Sigh)
--more--"
Also see: Fast Food Workers Co$ting Taxpayers
I guess upscale didn't like your resume.
