McDonald's and Chick-Fil-A Forced to Close Some Dining Rooms Due to Worker Shortage

Both Chick-Fil-A and Mcdonald's are closing some of their dining rooms because of a "worker shortage." The news comes from CBS who talked to some restaurant proprietors in Alabama. In that state, the chicken brand is having a time staffing their restaurants as COVID-19 rages on. Workers are stepping away from the service jobs in multiple areas as they look for better wages amid the continuing health situation. Drive-thru and curbside service is still humming, so there are clearly workers to staff the locations. Most people inconvenienced would be those choosing to dine in person. But, CBS reports that even some of those other locations in Alabama are feeling the strain on the curbside efforts as well. The heart of the matter in this situation is that the workers on the front lines of food service were affected mightily by the pandemic. Before getting back out there, they want to make sure that they're being compensated fairly. Until that happens, you will probably be seeing a lot more stories like this.

"Compared to pre-pandemic times, [the sector is] having a hard time turning job openings into hires, and employers in the industry are having a hard time retaining the workers they already have," Nick Bunker an economic research director with Indeed, explained to CBS MoneyWatch. "Employers now have this two-sided problem, having a relatively hard time bringing folks on and having to deal with holding on to people that they do have."

On the McDonalds side of things, the broken ice cream machine phenomenon has added an entirely new dimension to these issues. When one fan made an app to trace these outages, Tyler Gamble, of the corporation's National Supply Leadership Council equipment team, had to respond. During the National McDonalds Owners Associating meeting, he told a crowd of franchisees that change was coming in short order.

"I will not feel that my tenure as your equipment lead has been a success unless we find a way to ensure that McDonald's is no longer the butt of the joke, even with their own social media team," Gamble explained according to Business Insider.

McDonald's VP of Communications David Tovar also weighed in on the ice cream conundrum. He tweeted, "Only a true @McDonalds fan would go to these lengths to help customers get our delicious ice cream! So, thanks! We know we have some opportunities to consistently satisfy even more customers with sweet treats and we will."

Have you seen any messages looking for staff around your town? Let us know down in the comments!