The local dine in restaurant, JB’s Drive In, has had to make adjustments to their open hours. The restaurant in the past few years has reduced their hours. JB’s is no longer open on Mondays and this summer, the restaurant is now having to close the doors on Tuesdays as well.
The restaurant is a favorite of the local college community of the University of Northern Colorado. JB’s is located at 2501 8th Avenue Greeley, Colorado 80631, only a few blocks away from campus.
The amount of business the restaurant receives is not the problem. The shortage of help in the kitchen is the reason for lack of success said Rod Clark, JB’s manager.
The recent changes have been due to a shortage of people working the kitchen area and the servers. Clark said he is looking for at least 6 more people to work in the kitchen since its the area with the most stress of the job. He said some people often work from the morning shift all the way to the night shift in the kitchen because there are not enough people to cover separate shifts. This causes a lot of stress on the current employees. Clark said the shortage is causing him to get less sleep.
Currently JB’s is advertising their need for help on various platforms to try and bring in new interests in applying. Clark’s daughter has tried to bring in new employees by posting on the restaurant’s Facebook and on Instagram, to reach out to the younger Greeley population.
Clark made no effort to sugar coat the hard work that goes into working at the restaurant.
“I will pay them well to get them to stay.” Clark said.
Rio Parlin, a JBs employee, said his issue is with the flexibility of hours when working with employees on their schedules.
However, the problem of finding people to hire seems to not only be affecting JB’s Drive In, but other businesses as well. Clark mentioned other businesses in the community are struggling with filling positions they need. Some businesses have removed help wanted signs from their windows. He commented that the Police Department and the Greeley Post Office have had trouble finding workers as well.
“I don’t know when it changed, but with UNC students, it changed with financial aid where kids don’t have to work anymore.” Clark said when explaining why students seem to not be interested in working. “Parents of high schoolers aren’t forcing their kids to work at all.”
Parlin agreed with Clark about students not wanting to work anymore.
“A lot of people don’t really want to work a kitchen job. I feel like the food industry gets a bad rep[utation],” Parlin said.
Clark and Parlin, however, have hope for new applications and employees soon. While many people are still enjoying the food at JB’s, the staff at JB’s remain hopeful for new coworkers to help relieve the stress on the current staff and help to re-open the restaurant to its former hours.
