2 Chick-fil-A restaurants in Alabama are closing early every night because of 'extremely short staffing'
- Two Chick-fil-A restaurants in Alabama are closing early because they can't find enough staff.
- The restaurants in Decatur are each shaving eight hours a week off their opening hours.
- Three other Alabama Chick-fil-As have closed their dining rooms because of a staff shortage.
Two Chick-fil-A restaurants in Decatur, northern Alabama, are closing early because they can't find enough workers.
"Due to extremely short staffing, both Decatur Chick-fil-A restaurants will temporarily be closing at 8 p.m. beginning Monday, August 23, 2021," the restaurants said in matching Facebook posts Monday morning. They are both run by the same operator.
Both restaurants were previously open until 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, per their websites and Facebook pages, and will therefore open for eight fewer hours each week.
"We apologize for this inconvenience and hope to be back serving you at full capacity as soon as possible," the restaurants added in their Facebook posts.
Since Saturday, at least three Chick-fil-A restaurants in Alabama have closed their dining rooms because they can't find enough workers.
Chick-fil-A's website says that both Decatur restaurants currently only offer delivery and drive-thru. Dine-in and carry-out services are "temporarily closed." It isn't clear when they closed their dinings rooms, or whether staffing issues were to blame.
Both Decatur restaurants held a week of open interviews in April and a hiring party in May to find more workers. Job listings for the Southeast Decatur restaurant include full-time and part-time roles for both day and night shifts.
Restaurants across Alabama say they're struggling to find staff. A pizzeria in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood even said on Facebook that it would "literally hire anyone."
People have been leaving the restaurant industry in search of higher pay, better benefits, and more flexibility. A third of former hospitality workers don't plan on returning to the industry, according to a poll by Jobslist.
Restaurants have been raising wages and rolling out better benefits in a scramble to attract and retain staff. Average wages in the industry hit $15 an hour in May, and chains including McDonald's, Chipotle, and Starbucks have all said they'll raise wages.