We have about 25 employees on our payroll, many of them part-time, many of them young. Over the past year - hey, we're about to celebrate our first BT anniversary! - we've had 56 different people work here. Is that a 50% attrition rate or 100%?? Whatever, it's not good. Just this past week we've had a serious revolving door going on, mostly with our dish crew. It's been like a plague, and not all of the revolvers give us much notice that they are leaving. One kid came in on Friday night, told us that he'd been offered a job in Easton and they wanted him to start that night at 6PM. I said "So, you told them you had a commitment here at 6PM, right?". Right. He was out of here. Earlier in the same week a kid we had hired to replace another one sent a text mail to his buddy who was here working, to say he wasn't going to show up, that night or any other...Three (or has it been four?) others gave us decent notice and those are the ones we would hire back. Out of all of our original kitchen hires, one is still here with us.
Anyway, an ad in the Kent News netted us about 20 applicants...so we're fully staffed back in the dish area, for another week anyway! But then there's the salad cook who is off on maternity leave and the lunch line cook who has gone into rehab and the prep cook who didn't show up tonight and our sous chef who will be leaving when ever we can find his replacement...
The good news is - the two servers who left have returned...and we are happy to have them!
None of this is new for us, obviously. We are old hands at the "Revolving Door Cafe" - it's partly the restaurant business itself to blame and partly the average age of our staff. But it doesn't mean we like it and it does always seem to happen in waves like this. Eventually we'll get on an even keel again, and then, just when things seem to be bobbing along in a merry way, the first guy will give his notice and we'll start the whole routine all over again.
It's good Kevin and I can count on two things - each other!
Anyway, an ad in the Kent News netted us about 20 applicants...so we're fully staffed back in the dish area, for another week anyway! But then there's the salad cook who is off on maternity leave and the lunch line cook who has gone into rehab and the prep cook who didn't show up tonight and our sous chef who will be leaving when ever we can find his replacement...
The good news is - the two servers who left have returned...and we are happy to have them!
None of this is new for us, obviously. We are old hands at the "Revolving Door Cafe" - it's partly the restaurant business itself to blame and partly the average age of our staff. But it doesn't mean we like it and it does always seem to happen in waves like this. Eventually we'll get on an even keel again, and then, just when things seem to be bobbing along in a merry way, the first guy will give his notice and we'll start the whole routine all over again.
It's good Kevin and I can count on two things - each other!
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