COLUMBIA, S.C. — The latest unemployment report from the U.S. Department of Labor shows a decline in unemployment claims for the sixth week in a row. The SC Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) is also reporting a decline in cases. But some businesses are still having staffing issues.
"Service will never be what it once was, said Bobby Williams, CEO of Lizard's Thicket. "We used to give really good service in a restaurant, and now we’re short-handed."
As many businesses reopen and expand capacity limits, after being financially by the pandemic, some are struggling to fully reopen like Lizard's Thicket.
"Business is extremely good," Williams said. "The customers really wanna get back out and support local businesses. So we’re busier than ever, and we’re working short-handed."
According to a survey done by the SC Restaurant and Lodging Association, "78% of South Carolina operators say their current staffing level is lower than what it would normally be in the absence of COVID-19. 34% of operators are currently more than 20% below normal staffing levels."
The SCDEW said the current unemployment rate is at 5% with 2.2 million South Carolinians working.
"A lot of our dining rooms are still at 50%, only because we can’t get enough wait staff," Williams said. "So, if you go into a restaurant and you're waiting to be seated and see empty tables, the reason being is they can seat you, but they don’t have anybody that can wait on you."
Williams told News 19 he has incentives to hire more staff. If an employee recruits someone to become a server, both the employee and new hire will receive $100 after the new employee works 100 hours.
Brian Nottingham is the Labor Market Information Director for SCDEW. He said job openings are almost at an all time high compared to the past 10 years.
"So it’s not just replacing some perhaps temporary layoffs or positions from COVID but it’s replacing all of those jobs and then a huge level of growth on top of it," Williams said. "So these are typically really good things for the economy. It shows things are booming, employers are looking to hire but we are in a bit of a labor crunch here."
He said the top five jobs in demand in the Palmetto State are in order:
1. Health Care
2. Retail Trade
3. Accommodation and Food Services
4. Educational Services
5. Manufacturing
Nottingham said overall the state's unemployment recovery has been faster compared to other states.
"We’ve declined steadily throughout the rest of last year," Nottingham said. "We saw sort of a delayed start to the tourist season but we did see a tourist season and a hiring boom come with that. But by the end of the year, unemployment rate was certainly ahead of the national average and almost all of our neighbors; and we continue on that path."
"The restaurant industry has got to get back," Williams said. "Be more aggressive, they got to pay more. We need to do better training. We got to show them employees the good side."