"Stability is the main issue with retaining staff" says local restaurant owner

With patios reopening all across Ontario, TVC22 Journalist Bruce de la Cruz, interviewed the owners of two local restaurants: Dounia Saikaley of Friendly Restaurant & Pizzeria, and Sameer Chhibber of G.A.B.'s to ask about their experiences with Covid-19, and how they are moving forward with their businesses.

The two owners describe how they came into ownership of their respective businesses, and how business was doing great until Covid-19 happened.

Since then, they’ve had to shorten their hours, lay off 80-90 percent of their staff, and only now have they been able to open their patios. In Saikaley’s experience, many of her long-time staff needed something more stable than what the restaurant industry as a whole had to offer. 

The inconsistency of work hours, and the ever looming threat of closure, proved too much for some of Saikaley’s employees, pushing them to find work elsewhere. In addition, some employees did not feel safe coming back to work yet.  Now, Saikaley is left with a handful of employees, including having to bring on family members full time. 

Although Chhibber is thankful that many of his staff chose to stay with him, he empathizes with other restaurant owners, saying that Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (C.E.R.B.) and other government financial support plays a factor in employees not wanting to come back to work. 

Chhibber also highlights the support he and other restaurants has gotten from the local community, and we see several customers voicing the importance of supporting local businesses. 

Both owners ask returning customers to be patient, as staff are still re adjusting to serving people again.

When asked whether or not things will return to normal, Chhibber says that Covid-19 will continue to exist, and that it will mostly likely be a case of receiving a vaccine every year from now on. 

In terms of the hospitality sector, Saikaley says that although some restaurants will probably continue to exclusively deliver and serve take-out after the pandemic is over, she is hopeful that things will return to a complete normal for the industry.