The media is full of stories about how:
Many pubs are being forced to close two days a week due to a staffing crisis which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Groups representing pub owners told the Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media today that they have suffered a huge loss of chefs, managers and senior bar staff after two years of closures and restrictions.
And there's no question that there are a variety of factors impacting on pubs across the state. But that said, mentioned before how some working in bars have noted significant changes in drinking habits since the pandemic started with many customers who might have been regulars, that is drinking most nights in the week, finding drinking at home more congenial. I was in Dublin City centre myself last week on a Tuesday night in a bar I'd have gone into fairly regularly, every few months, certainly, usually on a Monday or Tuesday night in pre-pandemic times. Been there now twice this year, once on a Wednesday. Both times it was remarkably quiet. It's close to TCD, has a hostel associated with it and a passing tourist trade. But by ten myself and a friend were one of two groups still left in it. By eleven they were closing up. I couldn't blame them.
And I had to wonder hearing about the staffing crisis leading to 'closing two nights' whether there's more going on here than meets the eye. In other words there's a perfect storm as workers right ask for money and take other opportunities which are better paid, as drinking habits have shifted towards the domestic environment and as there remains a hesitation to go into pubs as the pandemic subsides but hasn't ended.
No comments:
Post a Comment