Why restaurants are having a hard time finding staff right now

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Sue Choi and her husband own several Korean restaurants in New York City. For their latest venture, Rib No. 7, slotxo online they've been trying to hire servers, kitchen staff and hostesses - but have had few bites so far.

"I don't even get one single phone call, even for the whole week," Choi told ABC News recently.

Upping the pay hasn't helped either, she said. Pre-pandemic, Choi said they would offer $ 20 an hour for an experienced hostess and get "hundreds and hundreds of resumes." Two weeks after posting a job listing for a hostess at Rib No. 7 for $ 30 an hour, they still hadn't received one, she said.

"It's kind of scary right now," Choi said.

Choi is not alone. In recent weeks, as COVID-19 dining restrictions have loosened, restaurants nationwide have been reporting staffing shortages. As a result, some have not reopened, are reducing operating hours or are trying to attract applicants with higher wages or signing bonuses.

Much attention has been paid to the impact of boosted unemployment benefits potentially dissuading people from seeking work - as several governors have announced they will end the extra $ 300 a week in federal unemployment funds - though the reasons

"There's not one existing issue that's making hiring so difficult in the restaurant industry, but a collective force of many different pressures," Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, told ABC News.