PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Rotunda Brew Pub in Derry Township, Dauphin County is fortunate it hasn't had to shut down throughout the pandemic thanks to take out orders and a pop up tent for outdoor seating. It's also fortunate to have kept much of its staff. But the past year has been anything but easy and other business owners claim staffing shortages could soon become a real problem.
The President of Pennsylvania's Restaurant and Lodging Association, John Longstreet said "owners are having difficulty getting people to come back to work. Among the chief reasons he said: enhanced unemployment benefits, employees unable to get vaccinations, and some employees who have chosen to leave the industry entirely.
"Some people are scared to come back to the industry because they think that it may be shut down again," he said. "We don't think that's the case."
Pennsylvania is still stuck in Phase 1a of the vaccination rollout as food service workers fall under Phase 1c. Pennsylvania health leaders are following CDC guidelines and have previously said that they will discuss moving to Phase 1b after March 31st.
"We'd like to see them (restaurant workers) in 1b for sure and we've been lobbying for that," said Longstreet.
However Longstreet agrees there are things to look forward to such as expanded capacity to 75% and bar seating.
"It's been a long year for our industry and you can see just in the past couple weeks that people are getting excited to come back out," said David Rotunda, co-owner of Rotunda Brew Pub.
"Currently we're not having any trouble with staffing. Really, we have a lot of good help. Our employees stood by us," said Rotunda.
Both Rotunda and Longstreet emphasized how essential bar business is to owners as the state's loosened April 4 restrictions will once again open bar seating and get rid of the curfew and food requirement imposed on alcohol.
"It's just a common place people enjoy," said Rotunda about the bar as he noted the bar also makes a difference in overall sales.
Longstreet said without bar business some owners in Pennsylvania have had trouble even reaching the 50% capacity currently allowed in the state. He hopes when loosened restrictions come on April 4 the allowance of bar seating and the expanded 75% capacity will help bring customers back in.
"It's one step closer to getting back to the new normal, whatever that would be," said Longstreet.