A3
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, SEpTEmbER 9, 2021
Workers: ‘Customers have little grace’
Continued from page A1
Competition
Just ask Robin Clement,
co-owner of Monkless Bel-
gian Ales in Bend. Clem-
ent and her husband opened
their pub just four months
before the pandemic shut it
down to reduce the spread of
COVID-19.
Fast forward to July, when
tourism season in central Ore-
gon hits a high note and the
state is reopening as COVID-
19 cases wane: The Clements
had trouble finding enough
workers to keep the brewpub
open six days a week.
In an interview with an
out-of-town worker recently
seeking a lead prep cook posi-
tion, Clement said she made
an offer on the spot to the
worker. The applicant dined
with his family for dinner that
night.
But the next day, he told
Clement he took another posi-
tion because it offered slightly
more money and a leadership
role, something the small pub
couldn’t offer, she said.
“It was really disappoint-
ing, but par for the course.
He was one of the few inter-
views that I set up who actu-
ally showed,” Clement said.
“2020 was a cakewalk com-
pared to 2021.
“Customers have little
grace. Their patience is thin.
It’s been hard dealing with
expectations.”
Only 32,500 eligible work-
ers statewide are sitting out
the labor market waiting for
the pandemic to lift because
of possible health concerns
or child care issues, said
Gail Krumenauer, an Ore-
gon Employment Depart-
ment economist. And another
12,000 workers statewide,
who had been in the leisure
and hospitality industry, now
are working in the transpor-
tation/warehousing and deliv-
ery sector because of higher
wages and benefits. The aver-
age wage for leisure and hos-
pitality in Oregon is about $14
an hour, but in transportation/
warehousing it’s $18 to $20
an hour.
“That’s a tough spot to
be in. The hiring is 1½ times
greater than we’ve ever seen,”
Krumenauer said. “This
spring we had 98,000 job
vacancies. That’s a lot of what
is fueling the worker shortage.
“That’s a perfect storm:
a lot of things happening all
at once and it makes it hard
for employers. Everyone’s
hiring.”
Layer these events on
top of one another and mix
in pent-up demand for buy-
ing and traveling and the
demand on goods and ser-
vices increases, which in turn
increases demand on the need
for more workers, Krume-
nauer said.
“Expanded benefits helped
families in central Oregon
and nationwide keep food on
‘THIS SpRING
WE HAd 98,000
JOb VACANCIES.
THAT’S A LOT
OF WHAT IS
FuELING
THE WORKER
SHORTAGE.’
Gail Krumenauer | an Oregon
Employment Department economist
the table and a roof over their
heads when workers lost their
jobs through no fault of their
own during this public health
pandemic,” U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, an Oregon Democrat,
said in an email. “Research
has repeatedly debunked the
baloney that benefits discour-
aged work.
“What’s clear in my con-
versations with Oregonians all
over our state is that the lack
of child care, housing costs,
the unique challenges of ser-
vice industry work and other
factors are what’s really keep-
ing many people from return-
ing to the workplace.”
The unemployment rate in
July was 5.6% in Deschutes
County, lower than the dou-
ble-digit rates at the height
of pandemic-related closures
but still above February 2020,
when it was 3.3.%, according
to the Oregon Employment
Department monthly unem-
ployment figures. Crook and
Jefferson counties have seen
their unemployment levels
return to near-normal levels
in the months following the
business closures imposed to
slow the spread of the virus.
Crook County’s unem-
ployment rate was 7% in July,
compared to 4.4% in February
2020. And Jefferson County’s
unemployment rate was 6.5%
in July, compared to 4.1% in
February 2020.
Statewide, the unemploy-
ment rate was 5.2% in July,
just slightly below the national
unemployment rate of 5.4%.
“There’s no doubt that (the
federal boost of the unem-
ployment insurance) is con-
straining the supply of labor,”
said Damon Runberg, an Ore-
gon Employment Department
regional economist. “But I
don’t think it is to a significant
degree.
“The labor market will
likely ease some as we move
into the fall, but that will be
more a reflection of a reduc-
tion in job vacancies rather
than a massive influx of
workers who lost their fed-
eral unemployment insurance
benefits.”
Child care could poten-
tially get worse if the Bend
Park & Recreation District
isn’t able to hire 20 more
workers for its after-school
programs. It takes about 90
employees working part-
time hours to run the 14 pro-
grams in elementary schools,
said Julie Brown, the park dis-
trict’s community relations
manager.
The park district has posted
hiring signs everywhere, even
on vehicles, posted ads on
social media, participated in
job fairs with on-the-spot hir-
ing and even raised the hourly
pay, she said.
“We’ve worked all sum-
mer long struggling to recruit
the new employees needed,”
Brown said. “These things
typically produce the results.
This situation feels different.”
In letters to parents, the
park district asked for refer-
rals from parents, she said.
There were 1,000 children
signed up for after-school care
as school started this week in
Bend.
“We’ve never experienced
this before,” said Brown. “We
offer training skills for those
who want to do this job. Most
of our workers are in their 20s,
but we do have people work-
ing in these jobs in all ages.”
Nearly 18 months past the
initial business restrictions
imposed to curb the spread of
the virus, Oregon has regained
2 out of every 3 jobs lost in
the spring of 2020, Krume-
nauer said. Just in the leisure
and hospitality sector alone,
the state added 7,100 jobs in
July, she said.
Stress
At Monkless, Clement said
she hopes that after the fed-
eral unemployment subsidy
subsides, she can employ a
full complement of staff. She
needs to fill about seven posi-
tions, and that’s keeping her
from opening her business
seven days a week.
Clement said the pub has
not been able to operate at full
capacity since the shutdown
in March 2020 and that’s
because of staffing issues.
And if summer hires leave or
wait staff leave because they
don’t want to wear masks, she
might have to consider clos-
ing for lunch or limiting more
service.
“It’s challenging as an
employer,” Clement said.
“The worries I had in 2020
were if we were going to
make it because we were a
new brewpub. This year we
have an unprecedented num-
ber of customers and a lack
of staff that continues to get
worse.”
Keatman, Sparrow Bak-
ery’s owner, said she thinks
the stress of the pandemic is
wearing thin on workers who
have to face customers daily.
With the average age of a ser-
vice industry worker about 19
to 24, she sees anxiety at lev-
els she’s never seen before.
“Workers in this age group
don’t have a secure financial
situation, and they’re trying
to figure things out,” Keatman
said. “They’re trying to fig-
ure things out. Being at work
sucks.”
Hotelier: Shortage impacting entire state
Continued from page A1
pay. What are other people
offering?’”
While Khan only made
slight adjustments to wages,
he added bonuses and
incentives.
“We have value in this
company and we are a good
company that offers a lot of
benefits,” he said. “We have
long-term relationships (with
workers), but still … we
looked at that and made some
changes.”
Khan is also looking to
develop housing. Cognizant
of the housing crunch on the
coast, where workers in hos-
pitality and other service sec-
tor jobs are often priced out of
market-rate rentals, he wants
to help construct more afford-
able units downtown.
“We want to attract people
from Portland, if they want to
move over here to work, so
that we can solve some work-
force problems,” he said. “It
would not only help solve the
housing problem, it will also
solve some of the workforce
problems because we will
get some talent that will have
a nicer place to stay in new
buildings … while also giv-
ing the local people a place to
stay.”
Khan said his workers will
get first priority on units and a
discount on price.
As occupancy rates for
hotels climb back toward
pre-pandemic levels, the
workforce remains in flux.
Earlier this summer, the
American Hotel & Lodging
Association estimated that 1
in 5 hotel jobs lost during the
pandemic won’t return by the
end of the year. Many people
who are looking to return to
work are reconsidering hos-
pitality or want higher wages,
better benefits and flexible
schedules, according to a sur-
vey by Joblist.
With the labor shortage,
workers who are employed
in hospitality are often tasked
with extra hours and addi-
tional duties.
While the shortage may
not be affecting Khan’s hotels
as much as others, as the
board chairman for the Ore-
gon Restaurant and Lodg-
ing Association, he sees the
impact it is having across the
state.
“It should be a priority for
industry leaders like ORLA
and everybody to bring the
workforce back and make
them confident in the hotel
industry,” he said. “We should
work together to bring them
back because it is a huge
thing.”
Khan said he knows hote-
liers who cannot use all of
their rooms because they
don’t have the staffing to
properly clean them on time.
Some have pointed to the
extended unemployment ben-
efits during the pandemic as
one reason for the labor short-
age. State economists calcu-
lated the average unemploy-
ment benefit equaled about
$16.75 an hour.
But the extended benefits
expired over the Labor Day
weekend.
Considering that most
people are vaccinated and
there is a better understand-
ing of how the virus spreads,
Khan said the government is
right to end the benefits. He
expects to see an increase in
job applications in the com-
ing weeks.
Despite the uncertainty of
the pandemic and the chang-
ing workforce, Khan chose to
move forward with construc-
tion last year of the 65-room
SaltLine Hotel in Seaside.
The hotel opened in August
2020.
“We did a lot of work
in-house,” he said. “It was not
easy, but it was fun — work-
ing together through the chal-
lenge we had.
“I like when there is a chal-
lenge and I can overcome it.”
FIELD TEST
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Miracle-Ear Center
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(503) 836-7921
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(503) 836-7926
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FIELD TEST
PARTICIPANTS
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there’s no risk or obligation of any kind.†
TO PARTICIPATE:
1. You must be one of the first 15 people to call our
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