Restaurants in Cape Coral heavily hit by staffing shortages

Businesses desperately need workers as they continue to deal with staffing shortages. It has even caused some companies to close their doors temporarily.

Some restaurants have even taken to Facebook to tell their customers about the closures. Iguana Mia in Cape Coral has asked customers to “be kind” to all restaurants in the area because so many are dealing with staffing issues.

WINK News spoke to the owner of Bubba’s Roadhouse & Saloon, who has had to temporarily shut down, about what could be contributing to this shortage.

Jay Johnson, the owner of Bubba’s, says there are many reasons for the labor shortage, including people not wanting to work during the holidays, the pandemic, and people looking to make a career change.

“It impacts our staff more than anything. Our staff that has been with us for a while our core staff ends up working six and seven days, and they start to get burnt out,” said Johnson.

Johnson says the size of his staff has dropped significantly. “A full-size staff for us is typically between 35 and 38 people. Right now. We’re short about a dozen people,” he said.

The staffing shortage is impacting most industries, but restaurants especially. That being said, right now, restaurants need workers so badly that many are willing to interview and hire you on the spot.