Atlanta Partner, Hospitality Co-Chair Discusses Service Industry Staffing Problems in Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In an article exploring how small businesses are responding to staffing shortages amid the Omicron surge, Andria Lure Ryan told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that small businesses in the service industry facing major staffing issues are more likely to increase hourly pay rather than offer paid leave.

“Their fallback is always to not encourage people to be out of work. They want people to be in work. They’re so shorthanded,” she said.

The culture of the restaurant industry before COVID-19 was “you came to work no matter what ... unless you had full-blown flu symptoms,” she said. “That has changed, but employers are still balancing trying to make sure people don’t come to work sick but making sure they come to work.”

Read the full article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.