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#delfinapizzeria Those of us who live in the Bay area are familiar with a restaurant chain named Delfina. They operate two pricey restaurants in San Francisco and Palo Alto. They have what I would describe as "a working man's and working woman's restaurant" in Burlingame. They make great pizza at a bargain-basement price.
This restaurant has been a favorite hangout of Elena and me for years. We decided to go to lunch there as we were in the area. When we got to California Avenue in Burlingame, we saw a scene that looked like an economic boom. Every shop and every restaurant was packed with happy people eating, drinking, and spending money.
We walked up to Delfina. It was closed. There was a notice on the door that they were only open for dinner. We went next door to a Mexican restaurant that I love called Sixto's. We had some good margaritas and a great meal.
It was a mystery about what happened with Delfina. For many years they had been open during the day. Had they gone broke? With this boom going on, that was doubtful. After a lot of thought, I decided that their problem was that they could not find enough workers. I have heard stories of several restaurants that closed during the pandemic and cannot reopen. They cannot afford to give the incentives and pay the wages that workers are getting now.
Here is another example. Federal Express just announced its quarterly earnings. The stock dropped 8% after earnings did not reach expectations. They had plenty of new business Their labor costs had gone up substantially due to the incentives and higher wages they had to offer to recruit workers.
This high price of labor is not strictly a US phenomenon. Right now, in the UK, many petrol stations are closed. There are supplies of petrol. They cannot find truck drivers to drive the delivery trucks to bring petrol to the petrol station. They have had to relax visa requirements to recruit truck drivers from all over Europe.
If you came to the Bay area from Argentina, Brasil, Peru, Canada, Mauritius, or South Africa, and you were a skilled worker with good English skills, you would find multiple job offers on the table with high wages, generous signing bonuses, and all legal fees paid for an immigration lawyer to get your work permit. When you looked for a house to buy or an apartment to rent, you would be in shock. I suspect that the higher-level professional jobs come with housing assistance.