New York City, New York, USA - June 2021 (FSN - No access Chinese mainland/Iran/Russia)
1. Vivian Forte, owner of restaurant Pisticci, clearing up table
2. People at restaurant
3. Forte clearing up table
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivian Forte, owner, Pisticci (starting with shot 3):
"I've never served a table before in my life, whereas today me and my manager served the entire restaurant. All 160 seats."
5. People working at restaurant
6. Chef cooking dish
7. Dish served at table
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Vivian Forte, owner, Pisticci (starting with shot 7):
"Most of the people who work for me are in the arts and they are just quite simply not in New York City, they won't come back until the industry is thriving. The fact that Broadway is opening here, or a couple comedy clubs are opening there, doesn't matter. It's a highly competitive city and until there really is a baseline of artistic activity again, the people who really fuel my business, they're just not going to return."
9. Various of people working at restaurant
10. Pedestrians
11. Various of girl doing homework
12. People walking
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeanie Tung, director, Business Development and Workforce Partnerships, Henry Street Settlement (starting with shot 12):
"If you think about the childcare situation that's already accounting for a lot of people who cannot work because they have to take care of their children."
14. Various of pedestrians; men working
15. Various of people working at restaurant
16. SOUNDBITE (English) James Parrott, director, Fiscal and Economic Policies, Center for New York City Affairs, The New School (starting with shots 15):
"They're basically asking workers who have led their lives differently over the past year to drop everything and run back to the office or the business or whatever. Give me a break. They just think, life doesn't work that way."
17. Woman walking; people at outdoor dining area
18. Various of people at restaurant
19. Pedestrians
20. Street view

Businesses across the United States are on a hiring spree with record level of job openings, as COVID-19 restrictions continue to be eased and economic recovery gathers pace, but many employers are struggling to find people to fill the vacancies.

Vivian Forte has been the owner of a restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side for 18 years. But this is a shift like no other.

"I've never served a table before in my life, whereas today me and my manager served the entire restaurant. All 160 seats," said Forte, owner of the restaurant, Pisticci.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Forte could find last minute staffing cover if someone called in sick. But now it is a struggle.

"Most of the people who work for me are in the arts and they are just quite simply not in New York City, they won't come back until the industry is thriving. The fact that Broadway is opening here, or a couple comedy clubs are opening there, doesn't matter. It's a highly competitive city and until there really is a baseline of artistic activity again, the people who really fuel my business, they're just not going to return," said Forte.

Without the hiring depth available, Pisticci is now no longer requiring two or three years of prior restaurant experience.

Employers across New York City are reporting similar hiring challenges, according to a recent Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce survey, more than half of businesses in that borough said they were struggling to fill their staffing needs.

There are now more than 9 million job openings in the United States, a record high. But the Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell said the COVID-19 pandemic is largely to blame, adding that health concerns and unemployment benefits are contributing factors. Childcare and remote schooling is also seen as a barrier for many to reenter the workforce.

"If you think about the childcare situation that's already accounting for a lot of people who cannot work because they have to take care of their children," said Jeanie Tung, director of Business Development and Workforce Partnerships at the Henry Street Settlement, a social service agency in New York City.

The city's unemployment rate in April stood at over 11 percent which was nearly double the national average. Jobs may be coming back but economists warn it can take time to fill positions especially after such a tumultuous year.

"They're basically asking workers who have led their lives differently over the past year to drop everything and run back to the office or the business or whatever. Give me a break. They just think life doesn't work that way," said James Parrott, director of the Fiscal and Economic Policies of the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School.

New York has rolled back most of its COVID-19 restrictions, and diners are returning in mass to the city's restaurants. But with tourism, hospitality and the arts yet to fully recover, it could take time before the labor market truly starts hiring again.