April 8, 2022
After two years of on-and-off lockdowns, Rachel Reinders felt a renewed sense of hope last month as pandemic restrictions eased and spring dawned on the cusp of a new patio season.
But soon Reinders, who heads administration at the Lieutenant’s Pump pub in Ottawa, had to scale back operations yet again, shutting down its lunchtime kitchen for a week in March because four cooks were on sick leave simultaneously.
“We’re not fully staffed in the kitchen as it is, so we couldn’t even really lose one. And we lost four,” she said. “Those who were left behind worked double-time to pick up the slack.”
Businesses across Canada are struggling to cope with an apparent sixth wave of COVID-19, as staffing shortages hamper sectors from health care to hospitality and retailΓüá — though the interruption remains more manageable than last winter’s Omicron variant surge.