As NC reopens, crowds return to restaurants, but not employees
North Carolina's economic rebound is caught in a tug-of-war between the people without jobs and the businesses that can't fully reopen because they can't find workers.
How does that impact locally-owned restaurants?
The owners of Luigi's Chophouse, an iconic and beloved local restaurant in Fayetteville, shared how the struggle to find staff has impacted their business.
Even as the state reopens, and crowds begin to return, Luigi's Chophouse co-owner Nick Parrous is scrambling to take care of people who are eager to get out of the house after being in a pandemic for over a year.
Wendell Small, who has worked at Luigi's Chophouse for about nine years, left the business when the pandemic numbers increased – he was concerned about being around too many people.
But he is part of a small number of employees who have since decided to come back to work.
He shares why he believes some unemployed people aren't rushing to return to work, saying, "Could be a number of reasons why, but I think it's people are just taking advantage of the system. They just really don't want to come back to work for whatever reason."
It's possible people have found they can make more money on unemployment than coming into work. Some people are also nervous about returning to a workforce that hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic economy.
Sen. Chuck Edwards expanded on the issue, saying, "Let's face it, humans are a creature of habit. And we've created a habit over the last 14 months that many folks can just simply get by, and it's easier to not work than it is to work."
Parrous has noticed the trend impacting his own hiring, saying 21 people recently went to his restaurant's social media page looking for information about getting a job – but wouldn't actually fill out an application.
"None of them went to the next step," he said.
He's hoping lawmakers will make changes that will give people reason to head back to work.
"What my hope is, is that they can start incentivizing work as opposed to incentivizing staying unemployed," he said. "And if that happens, then maybe we're going to see some real changes over the next few months."
In late May, NC Republicans pitched bonuses for people who found jobs, proposing a payment of $1,500 to someone who takes a job within 30 days or $800 if the person was hired within 60 days. However, the measure is currently blocked by the federal government.
