Hawkers Asian Street Fare CEO says increased wages have kept employees
Zach Tompkin started working at Hawkers Asian Street Fare last year after the restaurant he was working at closed. This summer, Hawkers gave Tompkin and all of his fellow employees a raise.
"It is two more dollars an hour, a server doesn't make as much an hour as other positions but it definitely does help," Tompkin said.
Hawkers is one of a few local restaurants that says it is not struggling with staffing.
"What we're seeing today with the increased pay is increased retention, which means increased productivity," Kaleb Harrell, Hawkers CEO, said.
Harrell is CEO of the Orlando-based chain. He says last year they took a huge hit from the labor shortage.
This year, they decided to re-invent the way they do business and a key focus was increasing wages.
"We rolled out an entirely new compensation and benefit package that included $15 per hour for non tipped and 8 dollars per hour for non-tipped employees," Harrell said.
Hawkers seems to be the exception as other restaurants cut hours or even close.
Bubbalou's Barbeque restaurant, a staple for 35 years, closed its Winter Park location this week and in a post on social media blamed the labor shortage.
Though expanded unemployment benefits ended months ago in Florida, the restaurant's post claims that the government is enabling people to stay home. WESH 2 reached out to Bubbalou's but our call was not returned.
Harrell said the wage increase instituted at Hawkers might not work for another restaurant and he admitted, figuring out a financial model to allow wage increases was a challenge. But he does believe to survive, restaurants may ultimately have to start paying more.