C8 The BulleTin • Sunday, May 9, 2021
Malheur County grapples with acute labor shortage
BY PAT CALDWELL
Malheur Enterprise
At Brewsky’s Broiler in On-
tario, business is on a solid up-
swing.
In Vale, Mal’s Diner rou-
tinely reaches its state-man-
dated COVID capacity for cus-
tomers.
As fewer COVID-19 restric-
tions pay off for local restau-
rants with more customers, a
tight local labor pool threatens
to put a crimp in the modest
boom.
Finding employees was a se-
rious issue for many restaurant
owners during the past four
weeks and now has reached a
critical mass.
“I have gone from selecting
the right candidate to hire to
this year begging anyone to ap-
ply,” said Malinda Castleberry,
owner of Mal’s.
Kathy Saldana, owner of
A Street Tavern in Vale and
Quins Bar in Ontario, said she’s
never seen a labor shortage as
severe as it is now.
“This is bad. It makes it to
the point where you just kind
of thank God you have team
players, but you don’t want to
burn them out and you don’t
want to get burned out,” said
Saldana.
At Ogawa’s Wicked Sushi,
Burgers And Bowls in Ontario,
a shortage of workers forced
the restaurant to cut back its
hours.
Cindy Lynch, co-owner of
Brewsky’s Broiler, also said her
restaurant struggles to find em-
ployees. Lynch said she believes
a combination of generous fed-
eral unemployment benefits
and uncertainty regarding state
COVID-19 restrictions keep
potential employees at home.
“They think “why would I
take a job in a restaurant that
Cindy
Lynch of
Brewsky’s
Broiler in
Ontario
talks about
the strug-
gle to find
employees
even as
business is
rebound-
ing.
Pat Caldwell/
Malheur
Enterprise
may get closed again,” said
Lynch.
Plaza Inn owner Jason
Jungling said he, too, believes
potential employees are appre-
hensive of COVID-19.
“You know, if I get a job at
a restaurant, is my job safe
with the next shutdown?” said
Jungling.
Jungling encountered dif-
ficulty finding employees,
though his core group — in-
cluding three cooks — re-
mained consistent through
the shutdowns. That’s been a
saving grace, said Jungling, es-
pecially as business climbed.
In March, he said, the Plaza
Inn hit a record in terms of
volume.
“In April, we’ve noticed
a little bit of a drop-off. But
business is still good. We are
averaging $3,000 a day and,
on the weekend, $4,000,” said
Jungling.
Shortage of workers was a
problem before the pandemic
hit, said Andrea Testi, director
of the Treasure Valley Com-
munity College Small Business
Development Center, but fed-
eral stimulus payouts are also
not helping.
“It has been exacerbated, in
my opinion, because people
are given a whole bunch of so-
cial service money not to go to
work,” said Testi.
Testi said it is “easier to col-
lect unemployment and other
types of financial ruminations
to stay at home.”
Testi said the worker short-
age comes up frequently in
conversations with the state of-
ficials and local merchants.
The shortage of help is not
limited to Malheur County,
said Jungling.
“It is across the entire U.S.
Everybody is having the same
issue — whether it is hiring
servers or cooks or dishwash-
ers,” he said.
Restaurants are also not the
only local businesses suffering
from lack of employees, said
Barry Carlman of American
Staffing, a Fruitland labor firm.
“Nobody can hire anybody,”
said Carlman.
Carlman said last week he
could offer 35 jobs with a start-
ing wage between $14 and $18
an hour.
“They just sit there and take
forever to fill,” said Carlman.
“We are used to filling 20 to 30
jobs a week and we are stilling
filling 10 to 15 but I have cli-
ents dying for people.”
Carlman said in 26 years
“this is the hardest I’ve ever
seen it.”
Carlman said the employee
dearth can be traced to an ar-
ray of factors.
“The unemployment rate is
super low already,” said Carl-
man.
March statistics from the
state Employment Department
show Malheur County re-
ported a 5.3% unemployment
rate. According to the U.S. Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics, Idaho
unemployment rate in March
was 3.2%.
Oregon unemployment rate,
as of February, was 6.1%.
Carlman also pointed to
stimulus cash as another ele-
ment to the problem.
“That kind of disincentivizes
people to work,” he said.
COVID-19 also plays a role,
he said.
“Some might be scared to be
out in the workforce or have
issues wearing a mask,” said
Carlman.
LAT CROSSWORD SOLUTION
Veteran, Locally Owned & Operated
Solve these
puzzles on C4
SOLUTION TO
TODAY’S SUDOKU
SOLUTION TO TODAY’S
JUMBLE
NYT CROSSWORD SOLUTION
CCB# 113106
Since 1998
Email us for a FREE quote @
bend@lifetimewindows.net
We Wholesale Windows Too!
VISIT
OUR NEW
SHOWROOM
97 th & Reed
Market Road!
CALL NOW FOR A FREE ESTIMATE
From Carl or Kameron
l
ecia
p
S
g
n
i
r
p
S
F
F
O
0
$25
d
541-633-7868
Great
FINANCING
AVAILBLE!
O.A.C.
00
lle
each insta
window
1091 SE Division St. in Bend • www.LifetimeWindows.net