CLEVELAND — Restaurants are still struggling to employ people, including the longtime Cleveland restaurant, Mallorca. Owner Laurie Torres, expressed her frustration.

What You Need To Know

  • Ohio's unemployment rate is 3.8%

  • Cleveland has an unemployment rate of 4.3%

  • There are still many businesses still struggling to find employees 

“Employment is an issue in our industry generally. We’re down about 15% from where we were in 2019,” she said.

She said that other independent restaurants in the area are having the same issue.

“Our industry is being poached by healthcare, by Amazon, but other industries. So, it’s not just the larger restaurants taking the jobs from the independents, it’s other industries,” she said.

Although this an issue for Torres and other restaurants, the city's unemployment rate remains among the highest in the country.

“For the Cuyahoga county area the unemployment rate for March was 4.3%, not seasonally adjusted, so a little bit higher than the statewide,” Matt Damschroder, the director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said.

Damschroder said job seekers are being pickier when it comes to choosing a job, which is why restaurants like the one Torres owns continues to have trouble finding workers.

“We’re having to pay top dollar to find that, so it’s a struggle. Employment is still a struggle in our industry,” she said.