Calgary restaurants hold hiring fair in effort to bounce back from pandemic struggles

The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered Alberta small businesses and resulted in significant labour shortages, but Calgary restaurants are hoping to rebound after two years of uncertainty.

Concorde Group, which operates National restaurants in the city, held a hiring fair Saturday at its 10th Avenue location in hopes of taking on more workers for front of house, back of house, and management roles at all of its venues.

Regional Manager, Annie Nguyen says National is ramping up for its patio season and getting excited to bring on workers for the Wildhorse Saloon tent during the Calgary Stampede.

"I think the hospitality industry has definitely seen the pressures of the pandemic, so now we're just trying our best to put the right people into the right places," she said.

"Being around people and hosting people, that's kind of their passion, so seeing that and bolstering our teams with that depth is amazing, but we also have tons of new faces."

Those new faces come as a result of layoffs, and some hospitality workers chose not to continue in the industry altogether because of the constant restrictions of the pandemic.

Annie Dormuth, Alberta director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says there has been a mass exodus of workers, and restaurants are hoping to regain confidence in the labour force.

"There's simply not enough workers applying for these jobs, and they're having difficulties bringing back their staff," said Dormuth.

"Restrictions have been removed across the province, and that is allowing restaurants to hopefully get back to their pre-pandemic operating and staffing levels, but still, only around half of Alberta small businesses are back to their pre-pandemic staffing levels."

Among the eager applicant hoping to take advantage of the need for work at Saturday's job fair was Laura Danchek. The first-year culinary arts student at SAIT hopes for some solid opportunities working as a chef.

"The experience is massive. That's really what kick starts your career," she said.

"It's one thing to learn, but to actually do it in the real world, that will mean so much because you don't get the same feeling."

The opportunity to interview for a job in person is also enticing for Benjamin Woods. The 21-year-old has been applying for jobs throughout the pandemic but struggled to get an interview.

"The job market, I think recently, has been kind of scarce unless you know someone that works at the company you're applying to already," he said.

"It can be kind of tough to find a job. I've spent countless, countless searches online over and over again, applying to jobs and essentially hadn't heard back from any of them."

People like Lindsay Zarowny agree that being able to showcase her personality in a face-to-face job interview is an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

"I like the idea because you kind of put a name to the face, and a lot of companies don't like when you hand in there your resume to them," she said.

"And with everything becoming so expensive now, it's really important to be having these job opportunities, especially for students struggling to pay their loans like me."