Cape Breton chiefs serve jobs

SYDNEY – Mark Paterson and Krista LeTerte are entrepreneurs who always seem to respond when the opportunity presents itself.

They are the owners of Mise en Place, a restaurant services company launched as a catering service in 2016. In 2018, the partners signed their first exclusive catering contract in 2018 with the assisted living facility Rideout House and in 2020, When members of the Westmount Dobsonian Yacht Club asked them to resume their cooking, LeTerte and Paterson did not let the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic stop them.

“We were very lucky because word of mouth about the Dory (Pub and Restaurant) really got around quickly,” said LeTerte.

“The whole summer has been absolutely crazy. The support from the community was amazing, absolutely unreal,” Patterson said. “When we opened we thought if we saw a few houses every few weeks it would be great, we would have a nice little family run restaurant. We weren’t expecting to feed families from Glace Bay all the way to North Sydney.”

Mise en Place’s growth continued through 2021 with the award of the exclusive catering contract with Sydney’s latest event venue, Sacred Heart Downtown, and their staff has more than increased tenfold over the past five years. from four to 50.

INCREASE IN EMPLOYEE RATES

National employment rates increased for the sixth month in a row, according to Statistics Canada’s Labor Force Report for November 2021.

Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan have all reported an increase in jobs and there are more people employed in Canada now than in February 2020 – before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hours of work have also increased to pre-pandemic levels, and female employment in the core age group 27 to 54 has since hit an all-time high of 80.7 percent.

The highest employment growth has not been recorded in the service-producing industries, in which catering is included, and there are still difficulties in recruiting staff due to shortages.

For Mise en Place, 35 of their staff are full-time and 15 part-time, working on events when needed. Paterson and LeTerte work in the kitchen with a team of 16, which includes two chefs, Robert Gould and Jaron Jose, and pastry chef Nicole Muise, who has worked for Mise en Place since 2016. All three are culinary professionals from the Nova Scotia Community College . management graduates like LeTerte and Paterson.

Since the opening of Mise en Place, Paterson said there has been little employee turnover, but he has felt the challenges of the staff shortage in the region.

“The staff shortages are real and they are serious,” he said.

EMPLOYEE SHORTAGE

Setting up felt the pressure to find staff when hiring summer employees for the Dory. In addition to the boats in the water and more customers expected, the place has a patio that can accommodate more than 50 people.

“We were so busy in the summer, busier than expected and it was extremely difficult to find staff,” Paterson said.

“We are not hiring anyone who is looking for a job. We are looking for the right person with the right personality. We are looking for someone who has passion and experience in the industry.”

For now, Mise en Place has the staff it needs and its biggest challenge is adjusting to the current restrictions in place, as COVID-19 cases continue to be over 500 a day in Nova Scotia. Scotland, as are the rest of the province’s restaurants.

“It was difficult to see a new lockdown put in place where we are only allowed 50% capacity of the sites,” Paterson said.

“It’s tough for us, but it’s tough for everyone. Handling that reduction in capacity is really tough, and then there’s the increase in food costs. It’s going to be really tough if we go in again. in full lockdown. “

Quick Facts: Labor Force Survey
-The unemployment rate fell to 6 percent
-The biggest drop since March 2021
-Jobs were 186,000 more than in February 2020
-Working hours have been increased to pre-pandemic level for the first time
-The employment rate of women aged 25 to 54 reaches a record high (80.7%)
-Employment increased in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.
-The other provinces recorded little or no change.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labor Force Survey, November 2021

Employment figures in Canada (in thousands)
November 2019 – 19,020.3
December 2019 – 19,074.3
January 2020 – 19,106.1
February 2020 – 19,130.3
March 2020 – 18,133.8
April 2020 – 16,141.6
May 2020 – 16,444.0
June 2020 – 17,385.7
July 2020 – 17,802.6
August 2020 – 18 016.3
September 2020 – 18,388.5
October 2020 – 18,482.9
November 2020 – 18,537.5
December 2020 – 18,484.8
January 2021 – 18,272.0
February 2021 – 18,531.2
March 2021 – 18,834.3
April 2021 – 18,627.2
May 2021 – 18,559.2
June 2021 – 18,789.9
July 2021 – 18,883.9
August 2021 – 18,974.1
September 2021 – 19,131.2
October 2021 – 19,162.4
November 2021 – 19,316.1
Source: Statistics Canada, Labor Force Survey, November 2021

Nicole Sullivan is a multimedia reporter for the Cape Breton Post.