A handful of Windsor businesses on hiring sprees ahead of Step 3 reopening

More businesses in Windsor-Essex are preparing to reopen on Friday, July 16 as the province enters Step 3 of the Roadmap to Reopen plan. Gyms, night clubs, restaurants will be allowed to open for indoor services.

Some business owners are under pressure to hire more staff in anticipation of more clientele while others are ready to go with the staff they have on hand.

Nick Pontikis, owner of Thanasi'sGreek restaurant on Tecumseh Road East said he is jumping from a handful of staff to more than a dozen beginning on Friday.

"I've been able to do take-out with a skeleton staff up until now," said Pontikis. "We're going to need full staffing because already the phones have been ringing off the hook with people just so eager to get back in here."

Friday is the first day Thanasi's Greek restaurantwill be open. It does not have a patio and according Pontikis, dine-in service represents 90 per cent of his business.

He said 24 reservations have already been booked.

The province enters Step 3 of the Roadmap to Reopen plan on Friday, July 16 five days earlier than originally anticipated.

Fitness facilities, movie theatres and concert spaces are allowed to fill to50 per cent capacity whereas nightclubs can have up to 250 people or 25 per cent capacity.

Indoor dining for restaurants, retail and personal care services - have no capacity limits but people must be 2 metres distanced.

Renaldo Agostino, owner of Turbo Espresso Bar, said he was prepared for an early reopening, therefore he held a job fair last week where 25 to 30 people were interviewed and approximately eight more people were hired.

"We anticipated reopening sooner rather than later. We also have a few special things in the works that we need to hire a whole bunch of people for," said Agostino.

The competition for hiring staff maybe explained by the unemployment rate in the city. In June, Windsor hadthe highest unemployment rate among Canada's larger cities. The rate sits at 11.8. per cent, which is a jump of nearly 1 per cent since May.

St. Catharines and Niagara follow at 11.5 and then London at 10 per cent.

"There's a lot of people that want jobs and there's a lot of people looking to change from their current job to a new job and there's a lot of people looking for part-time work so I see the demand for employment out there for sure," said Agostino.

Agostino's job fair continued into Monday evening. He expects to be fully staffed on Friday.