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Now that we are starting to emerge from the pandemic crisis that has been crippling our nation, a new crisis has risen to take its place - the lack of employees in the restaurant and service industries.  Businesses both locally and nationally that have been scratching and clawing to stay afloat until COVID-19 restrictions lifted allowing them to operate at full (and a profitable) capacity are now having to restrict operating hours not because customers aren't showing up, but because they simply don't have enough employees.

Not even the biggest restaurant chain in the world is immune to it.  According to BRProud, the world's largest burger joint, McDonald's, is going all out to attract quality workers. The article says that McDonald's needs over 4,000 employees in Louisiana alone. To help find those new employees, they're pulling every trick in the book out - including flexible schedules and college assistance.

But it's not just McDonald's. According to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, first-time applicants for unemployment benefits was around 13,000 for the last week of March alone. That's 8,100 more than the previous week! So, there's a LOT of people in the state who are either trying to 'work the system' or are waiting for different opportunities. No matter the reasons for the increase in unemployment, there's a ton of different businesses that are struggling to find people to work. Locally, Smitty's Pizza had to alter their hours due to the lack of employees. And I'm sure they're not the only ones.

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