Chicago restaurateurs struggle to fill jobs as appetite for dining increases

In his 24 years in the restaurant industry, Dave Attarsaheli has never seen as many job openings as he had the last few months.

The increase in vaccinations and relaxing regulations have made Chicago’s restaurant industry a job seeker’s market, said Attarsaheli, a waiter at Chicago’s Vu Rooftop Bar in the South Loop. After hearing that many higher-end restaurants were offering signing bonuses, higher wages and paid vacation time, Attarsaheli started applying to the vacancies around Chicago, he said.

“There’s many opportunities available,” Attarsaheli said. “Every restaurant has openings in every position.”

The most recent Job Openings And Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), published by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics on April 6, indicated that the nationwide trend in job openings was also reflected in Chicago’s restaurant scene. JOLTS, which is released monthly, measures job vacancies by looking at openings and turnover rates. Some analysts use JOLTS to understand how the job market is doing in a given month.

The most recent JOLTS put job openings at a two-year high in February, with job openings increasing by 268,000 from January. That increase pushed job openings to 7.4 million, which is 5.1% above pre-pandemic levels, according to past JOLTS reports. The availability of unfilled jobs, or the jobs opening rate, was 4.9%, breaking the previous record of 4.7% in January.

However, hiring was still overall 8.4 million below where it was in February 2020, according to the report. There were also 1.4 unemployed persons for every job opening in February, according to BLS.

The most recent JOLTS report was good news for many small businesses, Nick Bunker, director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab, Bunker said in an April 6 research note. The report shows strong gains for industries that have suffered during the pandemic, including restaurants, Bunker said.

“There is a lot to love in this report,” Bunker said. “Significant hiring is finally taking place in some industries hit hardest by the pandemic.”

Restaurants have been among the worst-hit businesses during the pandemic, said Mark Bires, who owns Fiya in Andersonville. While restaurant job openings have increased, owners are struggling to hire workers, Bires said.

Extended unemployment benefits and a growing consumer appetite for in-person dining have left many restaurants in Chicago scrambling to fill job vacancies, Bires said. He has been looking for a general manager for two months and has yet to fill the vacancy, Bires said. He has also been trying to hire house staff and a line cook since February, Bires said.

Bires thought he would have many applicants for Fiya’s open positions, but the restaurant labor market was tighter than he anticipated, he said. Bires made a couple job offers, but applicants turned them down, he said.

Bires also owns a gastro pub in Andersonville called Jerry’s. Since the pandemic, Bires has been acting as its chef, he said. As business picks up thanks to the COVID-19 vaccinations, decreased public anxiety and warmer weather, Bires began searching for a full-time chef so he can focus on solely managing the backend of the business, he said.

However, gastro pubs require cooks to learn recipes for both signature drinks and dishes, Bires said. Many applicants Bires has had only specialize in drinks or food, he said. As such, he has a hard time finding chefs with the necessary skills for the job, he said.

 “Most chefs are on the fine dining track,” Bires said. “You have to find that chef who enjoys working the burgers and braised meats. They exist, but it’s a tight labor market.”

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This story was originally written for a Medill business course.