Cane’s sending corporate staff to fill in as fry cooks, cashiers amid labor shortage

(WVUE) - Raising Cane’s is asking corporate staff to fry chicken tenders and serve drive-thru and dine-in customers in its restaurants as the industrywide labor shortage hits the chicken chain.

Cane’s will send half of its corporate staff into over 500 restaurants across the country, Bloomberg first reported. Senior vice presidents are among those sent to the branches, the company said.

The company is hoping to hire 10,000 workers over the next 50 days.

Raising Cane’s, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has 40,000 workers, and is planning to expand its footprint in 2022.

Fears over the Delta variant as well as fair wage debates have contributed to a service industry labor shortage since the pandemic began in March 2020. Business owners have blamed unemployment benefits for driving a lack of desire to work while potential employees argue that low-paying jobs are less attractive in such a competitive labor market.

The number of people employed in the food-service industry fell in August for the first time since April 2020, according to employment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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