The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
DIFFICULTY in sourcing staff is proving a persistent problem for Clare businesses, especially in the hospitality sector.
Shannon restaurant Tea and Tones has had to close on Mondays and Tuesdays of late, due to the issue, although the closure is set to be confined to Mondays in the future.
Proprietor Elaine Donnellan said she has been left with no choice because it is so hard to get a chef.
“I just can’t get one anywhere. I’ve advertised, I’m 30 years working in the industry and I’m always ringing people who I worked with over the years and you can’t get anyone.”
She said that in some cases experienced chefs left the sector during Covid, and got jobs in factories with much more social hours. “They have their weekends off and they say never again will they go back cheffing. We’ve rang LIT and there’s nobody, there doesn’t seem to be anyone coming through.”
In the past Elaine worked at Carrygerry House, the Park Inn, Shannon Shamrock and Durty Nelly’s. This is her first time running her own business and finding staff is a huge issue.
“It’s a disaster. You can get loads of waiting staff, there’s loads of teenagers coming through, but looking for experienced people for a kitchen was very hard. Even trying to find a porter was really hard. I have two fantastic porters now, but it took me ages. It’s just very hard to get the staff. Covid didn’t do us any favours anyway.”
Around the county the problem is the same, she says. “I know of a place in Doolin and they had to buy a house for staff, they could say we’ll put you up. I know of another person that arranged six interviews and only two of the people showed up.”
She is glad she is going to stay open on Tuesdays, but does need to be in a position to stay open all week.
“We’ve rearranged it a bit, we have someone who is going to help us out on a Thursday and Friday, and we’ll only close on the Monday.
“But it is very disappointing, we only opened in November. We have a lot of regulars built up already, a lot of them would be older people and they look forward to coming in every day, just to break things up. It’s disappointing that there are two days of the week that they can’t come in. That side of it is disappointing.
“It is hard building up a business and getting your name out there, you don’t want to close any day, you want to keep it open, need to keep it open and fresh for people.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
