It is never easy to work in the restaurant industry. Even before the pandemic, many restaurants were operating in the red, and several of them shuttered their doors permanently during the lockdowns. Now that restaurants have reopened to full capacity, they have a new set of hurdles to leap over.

John Barker is the president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association, and he joined the Ray Horner Morning Show to discuss the struggles these restaurants have experienced. One side of the coin is the supply shortage, to the point where some menu items are being dropped temporarily or altogether. Barker says restaurants have had to cut costs in creative ways, even if that means having their menus be all-digital by scanning a QR code with one's smartphone.

Another issue has been the labor shortage. Now that many establishments have raised their wages, that topic has not become the issue anymore. Barker says there are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of jobs available, but they are not being taken.