Restaurant owners cant fill jobs, blames unemployment

FERNDALE, Mich. - Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that all COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted on June 22, and small business owners say it is hard to open up because they can not find the necessary staff.

"It's very hard to open 100% or 50 % or 60% if you don't find the worker. I need bartenders; I need waitstaff; I need kitchen people," said Gorge Gize, the owner of Assaggi Bistro in Ferndale.

Gize says he believes unemployment benefits are the reason he can't find people to work.

"How can we operate when the government, the federal or the local government are buying the people with unemployment money," says Gize.

According to Curt Catallo, the Co-owner of Union Joints, Gize is not the only owner suffering to find staff.

"We know that we need to bring in 400 more people into our group until we can be at 100-percent capacity, and that's a big task," Catallo said.

These business owners say not only is it hard to find staff, but those willing to work are demanding higher wages.

Gize says that he can only open up four days a week instead of six without a full staff.