Before the NYC-wide mandate that requires proof of vaccination for customers and workers at indoor dining, fitness, and entertainment facilities, Danny Meyer, founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, announced in July that USHG would require that its employees and diners be vaccinated.
“I think that New York was hit hard by COVID, and during the early months, the industry had to lay people off and some restaurants even had to close,” he said during a Washington Post Live event, Monday. “And then when we opened back up, so much energy was spent on taking temperatures and contact tracing. The one thing that helped us open up more and make more money was vaccinations. We didn’t want to go back and getting the economy back on its feet was far more important to me, so we took a stand.”
However, not all employees want to or are able to get vaccines, adding to the industry’s already challenging workforce issues.
“We’re losing some employees, and we’re concerned we might lose more to retail, since the vaccine mandate doesn’t apply to that sector,” Meyer said.
Compounding this is the fact that many restaurants can no longer afford to pay employees competitive wages, a situation that was created by uneven distribution of the Restaurant Revitalization Funds, according to Meyer.
“Only about a third of Restaurant Revitalization Fund applications got funding, leaving a lot of people out,” he said. “And what’s happening now is that it’s pitting restaurants against each other. Employees are leaving establishments that didn’t receive grant funding to go to ones that did, who can pay them a better wage.”
Meyer, along with other industry stakeholders, are urging Congress to pass the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act, introduced in June, which would provide an additional $60 billion for struggling restaurants.
In order to better serve employees, USHG is focusing on creating a more equitable and diverse workplace.
“We’ve hired outside advisors to hold up a mirror to us and show us what we can do better,” he said. “It’s all about doing a better job of listening, measuring, and asking yourself where you want to be, and then holding yourself accountable for getting there. Something we’ve done for the first time this past year was to publish our diversity and equity statistics quarterly to our website. I’ve always believed that when you measure something that matters to you, it will get better. But hiring is just one part of it; we need to make people feel like they belong, too.”
Related: NYC Restaurants Fear Losing Sales from Vaccine Requirements; OpenTable Helps Diners Navigate Vaccination Requirements.