‘Whiplash’: At Beaufort Co. restaurants, staff shortages can mean price hikes, fewer hours
Drive past any fast food joint on U.S. 278 or S.C. 170 around mealtime, and you’ll likely see a line of cars snaking around the block. But behind the veil of convenience is an industry trying to stay afloat, pummeled by a workforce shortage and skyrocketing demand.
The Lowcountry’s staffing crisis has reached a tipping point over the past six weeks, as warm weather attracts tourists to the coast. For many, the COVID-19 vaccine offers the freedom to partake in activities that have been restricted over the past year. But the workforce has not recovered quickly enough to meet demand.
Compounding these difficulties, restaurants across the country are struggling to get enough supply of food products, including chicken and boba, as people reenter the public. Plus, some national food suppliers can’t meet their clients’ demands due to lack of workers.
The effects of these shortages on local restaurants are far-reaching. Some have had to cut hours. Others have had to hike prices to increase wages and afford scarce food products.
Some restaurant owners say unemployment benefits are keeping people from coming back to work. Others have countered that the fact that people would choose unemployment over work speaks to how little minimum wage workers make.
Per S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s order, federal unemployment benefits, including the $300 weekly supplements, will become unavailable at the end of June.
Whether this will actually get people back to work remains to be seen. Experts say inventory and staffing problems could last for months, even years.
University of South Carolina research economist Joseph Von Nessen identified the difficult adjustment businesses are experiencing right now as “economic whiplash.”
“Businesses are not used to going through massive swings in demand over a short period of time. They had to go through that once basically this time last year in terms of the downswing … and now we’re going through basically the opposite, and it’s going to be just as challenging to get out of the COVID economy as it was to get into it.”
Cris Morrison, owner of the Foolish Frog seafood restaurant on St. Helena Island and Brody’s Bar and Grill on Lady’s Island, said he has had to raise prices and close Foolish Frog on Tuesdays due to product and staff shortages.
Morrison said he hopes McMaster’s order helps, but that he expects problems with staffing to persist beyond the pandemic.
“Unless there’s a deflation somewhere along the line, then I don’t see [staffing issues] going away anytime soon, unless people in Beaufort decide that they’re going to go back to work,” he said.
Without sufficient staff, the speed of service can suffer. Jake Higgins, owner of several Bluffton restaurants including Which Wich, Kilwin’s and Bluffton Pizza Company, said this has led some customers at his franchises to get frustrated with employees.
“I have to follow different rules and different laws, and the customer thinks that they’re supposed to get something a certain way in a certain time, and my employees can’t handle that because we just don’t have enough people,” he said. “The customer expectations are still high, but the ability to meet those expectations is extremely difficult.”
Then there’s social media, where rumors swirl about why particular restaurants appear closed or have posted that they are closing temporarily. Facebook commenters frequently postulate that “no one wants to work,” to which others respond that they’re not paying living wages. But the rumors of closures are often just that — rumors.
Antwayne Martin, a manager at Zaxby’s on Hilton Head, dispelled gossip circulating on social media that the fast food chain had closed or curbed its hours due to low staffing. Not true, he said — drive-thru is open, dine-in is not.
“We’re going through as many applications as we can just to get staff in here,” he said. “We don’t have the dining room open because we don’t have enough staff.”
