How Restaurants Can Hire and Rehire Quickly During COVID-19

My first business was running a Thai restaurant while in college with a couple of friends, so seeing how hard the restaurant industry has been hit by COVID-19 recently hits close to home. I know how hard it is to stay in business, how slim the margins are, and especially how difficult it is to hire and take care of the employees that keeps the business alive.

Many restaurants are experiencing a truly strange predicament. As cities begin to reopen, owners will want to bring back staff they might have furloughed, but many are earning more on unemployment than they did at their jobs. They might not want to come back, especially if they have health and safety concerns. Piling onto this issue, if a restaurant owner has accepted a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, the full amount is only forgivable if the restaurant retains its full headcount.

Each of these factors mean restaurant owners may have to hire -- and hire fast. Here are four ways to source and hire workers more quickly…