COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Summer is approaching the Brazos Valley and for many local businesses, this marks a real change in operation.
Indeed, as Aggieland enters its quieter phase of the year, local restaurants are preparing for some major staffing changes.
Ian Kendal, the hiring manager of Stella Southern Café in College Station, said his restaurant is no exception.
“As far as front-of-house, we will be having a major hit,” said Kendall.
“As of May, we will have lost 8 front-of-house employees,
"We have a lot of students who will be going out of town, whether that be on vacation or to pursue different ventures,
"It’s definitely a big turnover time for us.”
For over 4 years, Stella Southern Café has retained the majority of its employees with a "temporary solution."
“We actually hire a bunch of home-schooled kids, there is a home-school program that half of our staff comes from.”
The program is called Classical Conversations, helping homeschoolers not only learn curriculum, but help them get jobs for the summer.
Kendall said that helps Stella Southern Café tremendously.
“We are very lucky to have them because they only have class one day a week,
"So through the summer, they become the people you see primarily running around.”
Stella isn’t the only local restaurant seeing a dip in employment for the summer months, but again, this trend is nothing new to local employers.
According to Texas A&M Economic Professor, Dennis Jansen, this trend is actually “expected.”
“We have various hiring seasons in our area, and now we are at the end of the spring semester and employment falls,
"It's as regular as clockwork,” said Jansen
As the summer makes its way to the Brazos Valley, Jansen said this trend has already arrived.
“We have about one and a half thousand workers out of 17 thousand hospitality workers that are classified as leisure and hospitality who will be leaving us between April and June," said Jansen.
"This is just usually when this happens.”
Jansen says businesses need not worry as the workforce will regulate in the fall semester of 2022.