Food, beverage and hospitality businesses in North Bay struggle to find workers
While customers are returning to restaurants and hotels, many business owners in North Bay say their staff is still missing.
"It's next to impossible, to hire," said Clase Eriksson, manager of Casey's Grill Bar in North Bay.
"The candidates are not coming through the door, the responses on the media sites are not there, they're just not coming out … We've had to change our entire way of thinking, our entire mindset, how to roll with the change of the dynamic."
Positions across the board need filling – servers, hosts, chefs and cooks -- and it's affecting how restaurants are operating.
"It affects everything," said Travis Ethier, general manager at Wacky's North Bay.
"It's harder to give the best service we can. When there's not enough staff working the floor and in the kitchen, then your wait times go up.
"It's good because we have a good group of customers who understand the wait times, so we just try our best," Ethier added.
It's also becoming difficult on the staff that is working.
"Our teams are asked to do more hours for no real reward," said Eriksson.
"They are not able to have the lifestyle that they are entitled to because they are trying to meet the demand that hasn't slowed down … Cooks and servers just can't keep up."
Hotels are also feeling the same heat.
"Interviews are being made, but people aren't showing up, hires are being brought in and trained and leaving for the next best role down the street at that hotel," said Cindy Rivest-Vainio, catering and sales manager at Best Western North Bay.
"It's been very challenging. We might have 100 applicants and less than half will show up for an interview."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.