To cut down on interview no shows, restaurant owner turns to incentives

The employee shortage at Bavaro’s Pizza Napoletana & Pastaria, a chain of Italian restaurants with locations in St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Tampa, is at about 15% — rough but not as crippling as some others in the region.  

Yet founder and owner Dan Bavaro, despite his best efforts, keeps getting ghosted —people responding to job postings but not showing up for interviews. Since entry level restaurant jobs like dishwashing and line cooks aren’t traditionally high paying, many people who’d normally be looking for work find it’s more economically feasible to stay home and collect unemployment benefits, he says. A common refrain in the current crisis.