SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Port City Daily’s third most read story of the year highlighted labor shortages, which have been commonplace across multiple industries but especially for restaurants throughout 2021. For Bojangles in Monkey Junction, the issue came to a head in August.
According to corporate spokesperson Stacy McCray, Bojangles dealt with consistent staffing issues through the pandemic, which led to the Monkey Junction doors closing one Friday morning without notice to the headquarters. A note on the door and tacked to the drive-thru menu informed customers “everyone walked out.”
By the following morning, it was operating at normal capacity.
A few weeks later, Bojangles CEO Jose Armario announced it would close 277 company-owned stores on two separate Mondays to invest “in its most important asset”: employees who have taken on extra work during trying times. The closures would give employees a break — unpaid time off — at all nine local stores (the popular Southern chain operates over 700 in 14 states).
“We appreciate everything our dedicated team has done for Bojangles this past year,” Armario said in a release. “From navigating a global pandemic to adjusting to new safety measures to picking up shifts for those unable to come in for work, we’ve asked, and they’ve delivered.”
Both stories can be read below:
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