Up To Date

Kansas City Restaurants Share In Industry Wide Staffing Shortages

By Steve Kraske,

Published May 11, 2021 at 4:15 PM CDT

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Chefs at work in a restaurant kitchen. — Many former restaurant workers are not interested in returning to the industry post-pandemic.

As pandemic restrictions are lifted restaurants are ready to cook and diners are ready to eat, but staff are not flocking back to greet guests and wait tables.

The problem is that without enough employees restaurants aren’t able to scale up production to meet the pent-up demand they're experiencing. Pre-pandemic industry conditions are causing workers to look for jobs elsewhere as "they're understanding the value of a livable wage," says Jenny Vergara.

Liz Cook, freelance food reporter for The Pitch
Jenny Vergara, contributing editor for Feast Magazine

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Up To Date Podcast restaurants local food food minimum wage service workers

Steve Kraske

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.

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Mackenzie Martin

Whether it’s something happening right now or something that happened 100 years ago, some stories don’t fit in the short few minutes of a newscast. As a podcast producer and reporter at KCUR Studios, I help investigate questions and local curiosities in a way that brings listeners along for adventures with plot twists and thought-provoking ideas. Sometimes there isn’t an easy answer in the end – but my hope is that we all leave with a greater understanding of the city we live in. Reach me at mackenzie@kcur.org.

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Zach Wilson

As Up To Date’s senior producer, I construct daily conversations that give our listeners context to the issues of our time. I strive to provide a platform that holds those in power accountable, while also spotlighting the voices of Kansas City’s creatives and visionaries that may otherwise go unheard. Email me at zach@kcur.org.

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