ORLANDO, Fla. (WTVO) – A BBQ restaurant in Florida has closed after being left with only 4 employees, citing the ongoing labor shortage in the country.
Bubbalou’s Bodacious Bar-B-Que was forced to shut down its Winter Park location in early September, according to Business Insider. Owner Boo McKinnon said that “Despite paying more than any restaurant I am aware of, no one wants to work,” in a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
“Business has been off considerably, but the hardest part being the inability to find staff to hire,” McKinnon said in the post.
McKinnon said that before closing, the restaurant had already cut back on it’s hours of operation, only being open for three full days and two half days per week.
Workers are saying that bad benefits, low pay and a lack of flexible hours are making them quit their jobs.
“It wasn’t by design. It was simply due to the fact we have no staff and can’t find any,” said McKinnon.
The post also seemed to put blame on the enhanced unemployment benefits from the government as a reason for the restaurant’s lack of workers.
Florida stopped paying it’s $300 weekly payment in June. The decision was made because it would “help fill thousands of these vacancies and aid in ending the worker shortage throughout the state,” according to Mark Wilson, the CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
“Damn you pandemic and the political machine for making more appealing to not work than to be an active part of the workforce in our country,” McKinnon said. “It’s pathetic. And it has disastrous results.”
