Lexington restaurants still struggling with shortage of staff

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – With the extension of federal unemployment benefits ending, one Lexington restaurant hopes to see more job applicants coming through the door. General Manager Jessica Terry says ‘Grimaldis’ could use a hand or two after losing a lot of workers during the start of pandemic.

“We gave 35 people 4 hour notice that we were going to have to let them go without any answers. When the time came to bring back employees about 50 percent of those that we let go actually returned,” explained Terry.

Since reopening the front of house to dinning-in again in may of 2020, Terry says employees still haven’t caught a break

“We’ve been struggling for staffing since the start of Covid-19 and we need people for front of house, back of house and all positions,” says Terry.

Terry says it’s not just the lack of staff, there’s also a problem with getting product in because of the same issue. It’s something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by patrons.

“We actually had a guest tell us last night that we should just hire some more people..And we kind of laughed about that because there’s no applicants,” recalls Terry.

Because of the staffing shortage, Terry says some employees are working sixty hours a week. Some of them who have been with her from the start say its all about being a team player.

“You just do it. You just get up and you do it. Everybody wants a day off everybody needs a day off but I enjoy being here, too,” says Hayley Wise, a server.

With the unemployment extension ending, Grimaldis is hoping things turn around. If you’d like to help the restaurant out and be part of the team, you can click the link here to find a job application.