P.E.I. chef Michael Smith offers to fly in dishwasher after job goes unfilled

The ongoing worker shortage continues to cause headaches for business owners, leading some to out-of-the-box recruitment techniques.

When chef Michael Smith’s job posting for a dishwasher went unanswered for the better part of a year, he needed to cast a broader net.

So he posted a call on social media, promising to fly out any successful candidate from anywhere in Canada to work at his restaurant and resort outside of Souris, P.E.I.

“Let’s just fly them in, put it on Instagram, we’ve got a place where they can stay in Souris, and let’s just see what happens,” said chef Michael Smith at the Inn at Bay Fortune. “In one hour we got more resumes than we’d gotten all year.”

His answer might be extreme, but it’s hardly unique.

This is shaping up to be a banner year for tourism bookings on Prince Edward Island, but owners can’t find workers.

“I think that highlights exactly what operators are having to do, is think outside the box from that traditional hiring, which is still important, we know that there’s a strong role for that, but we really need to get creative,” said Corryn Clemence, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I. “With compensation packages, some of the benefits and perks.”

Staff shortages have been a growing issue throughout the Atlantic region, making it hard for many kinds of business, but particularly the service industry, to operate.

“We’ve struggled the last couple of years to get the normal amount of applicants in,” said Smith. “So it just led us to the point where it’s like ‘you know what, let’s just try something different, here we go, let’s just do this.’”

The dishwasher job comes with full benefits and an $18 an hour wage -- well above the industry average.

They’re also experimenting with a four-day work week.

“It’s the backbone of the kitchen, the dishwasher, every kitchen, and we respect them, and we feed them well, and treat them well, and help them,” said Smith.

“So they’re going to have a great job, they’re going to have the best darn dishwashing job in the country, that’s for sure.”

Over 100 people from across the country have applied to come work for chef Michael.

P.E.I. relies more than most places on temporary labour. The island’s three major industries tourism, agriculture, and fishing are all highly seasonal, with long stretches of unemployment workers can use to look for more consistent work.

So long as competition for workers remains high, those jobs will remain particularly hard to fill.