As we continue to move forward after the pandemic, the U.S. unemployment rate hit a two year low of 3.6% in March of 2022. The hospitality industry was the first to be devastated by COVID 19. Restaurants are gradually recovering due to easing COVID-19 restrictions allowing for higher (in some places, even 100%) indoor capacity. However, many restaurants and small businesses are still struggling with issues like inflation when it comes to hiring employees back from when they lost millions in the first year of the pandemic. Many people simply aren’t coming back to the industry, and it could mean serious trouble for restaurants without something being done to help with this staffing shortage.

Workers are definitely in high demand. While restaurant owners are offering more flexibility and benefits, local organizations are hosting events to support Massachusetts restaurant owners and people looking for jobs. Two of them include MA-ARA (Massachusetts Asian-American Restaurant Association) and CBA (Chinatown Business Association), which both hosted March events to help restaurants in Massachusetts. 

In an interview with this reporter, Theresa Tsoi, President of the Chinatown Business Association (CBA) described that the Association works to strengthen, promote and be the voice for the community businesses. CBA was first established in 1994 and re-organized in 2018, with the objective to actively engage the Chinatown community.  Currently, there are 100 members.

On March 23rd, the CBA held a banquet at the Empire Garden. Among those attending were prominent Boston dignitaries including Mayor Wu, State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, City Councilors President Ed Flynn and Michael Flaherty, and TECO’s (Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Boston) General Director Jonathan Sun.  Tsoi said that CBA’s mission is to energize the community and strengthen local businesses. “Having them there to support our community was amazing.”

Tsoi told this reporter:

“Everyone was very excited to come together and support the restaurant community. It was very powerful for all of us as the restaurant world starts making big steps back to normalcy.”

On March 28, MA-ARA held a job fair to help new immigrants and other economically disadvantaged people find  jobs, in turn also helping Asian restaurants to resolve their labor shortage issues. The job fair was hosted by AACA. Similar to CBA, MA-ARA also organized this event to advance and promote Massachusetts’ Asian restaurants.

MA-ARA is a non-profit corporation. It aims to create professional leadership and provide Asian restaurant businesses the resources and guidance needed to advance in the industry. MA-ARA is a platform connecting Asian restaurant members with professional service providers as well as relevant governmental entities to enhance the communication, collaboration and mutual benefits.

The organization, started in 2018,  provides information about successful business development and employment issues, advocates  work with the public, government officials, and government regulators, and promotes the scope and benefits of Asian restaurants and their contribution to the economic vitality of Massachusetts. 

MA-ARA worked with Asian American Civic Association (AACA) to host the job fair to help immigrants and other economically disadvantaged people to find jobs and help Asian restaurants resolve their labor shortage issues. The job fair was hosted on March 28 at AACA. 20 restaurants were represented.

Xiaoyan Huang, one of the MA-ARA organizers, says this is an exciting time for the Asian restaurant industry in Massachusetts as we push forward together and return to our successful place in the state’s economy.

Both of these organizations have set out to tackle the serious difficulties that Massachusetts restaurant owners have been facing since early 2020. The gradual removal of pandemic restrictions offers a promising future to the restaurants and hopefully they will be able to keep up with the demand by hiring people to fill their staffing needs.

SAMPAN, published by the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association, is the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, acting as a bridge between Asian American community organizations and individuals in the Greater Boston area. It is published biweekly and distributed free-of-charge throughout metro Boston; it is also delivered to as far away as Hawaii.