WEST BOYLSTON, Mass. -  Massachusetts businesses say they’re scrambling to find staff as the state prepares to lift capacity restrictions and changes its mask mandate. 

Hundreds of people will soon be able to celebrate events at The Manor in West Boylston.

“It’s fantastic news for us," Andrea Rotolo, general manager of The Manor and the Draught House, said. 

Restaurants and other businesses can resume at full capacity starting on May 29.

“The numbers are supporting that, I think, in the Commonwealth, and in the Worcester area, our positivity number for new COVID cases is way, way down. And I think out most vulnerable populations are showing signs that we have gotten to that heard immunity level," Dr. Michaell Hirsh, City of Worcester's Medical Direcotr, said. 

But to operate at 100% capacity, restaurants say they’ll need more workers and fast. ​

“It came as a big surprise that in two weeks, basically it's gonna go back to 100%.  I thought it was going to be incremental," Savvas Fotiadis, co-owner of The Manor and the Draught House, said. 

“You know, we put ads out everywhere that we can possibly think of putting ads out. And we've had quite a few applications come through, set up interviews, and then people don't even show for the interviews," Rotolo
said. 

As businesses try to hire, they’re also figuring out what their policies will be as restrictions are lifted. People who are fully vaccinated, won’t have have wear a mask in many places starting on May 29.

“I don't believe we'll be checking for vaccination cards. You know it's something that's fluid right now. It just happened. Its only been a couple of days," Fotiadis said. "So we are evaluating the whole process.” 

Staff at the Manor will keep wearing their masks and some vaccinated​ customers say they’ll keep wearing theirs in public places for a while.

“I have had a couple of friends passed away from it. So yeah, a little nervous," Ron Lajoie said. 

To help get more employees in the door, Fotiadis says he’s been trying to offer bonuses for new hires who refer a friend or work for a certain amount of time.