Restaurants in the Lower Mainland are in urgent need of kitchen staff.
Ian Tostenson, President of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association spoke with CKNW’s Jon McComb on Wednesday about the labour deficit.
Tostenson doesn’t blame wages for the shortage. Instead, he attributes the lack of labour to the demands of the industry.
“It’s a tough job, people want to be with their families.”
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Restaurants have typically relied on employing young workers aged 15-24 Tostenson said.
“We’re about 20,000 short. That’s 20,000 less people in the system by the time we get to 2021.”
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According to a study done in June 2016 by Cook Labour Market Analysis, 73 per cent of employers with a vacant kitchen staff position were facing a labour shortage.
Tomahawk Barbeque in North Vancouver has had to close dinner service early four nights a week due to the lack of staff.
“It breaks my heart, people have all this money invested,” Tostenson said.
Tostenson said the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association is launching a benefits program to attract new types of workers.
In order to do this, the restaurant environment needs to change, he said.
“Single moms, for instance, need predictable hours during the week and benefits.”
Another solution, he suggested, is a partnership with kitchen schools on the Downtown Eastside to hire graduates from these programs.
“We need to remarket the values that attracted people to the industry initially.”
But restaurants are just one industry facing the same challenge, Tostenson said.
“Everybody is short of labour.”