Jill Smith
Staff Writer
[email protected]

Dining options across Murray State have seen employee shortages this semester, causing many establishments to adjust their hours of operation.

Sodexo General Manager Jim Halcombe says the biggest challenge is finding students to work during busy hours.

“Our main challenge is an availability issue,” Halcombe said. “Student workers are not available during high volume times, such as lunch and early afternoon due to their class schedules.”

Halcombe said they are seeing a shortage of full-time and part-time employees, but they are beginning to see more applicants.

“We enjoy hiring and working with students throughout our campus locations,” Halcombe said. “We typically hire 100-plus student workers. We are currently at approximately 70% of that number.”

Einstein’s Bros. Bagels has seen the most significant impact with the staffing shortage.

Einstein’s first announced adjusted hours from 2-3 p.m. on Aug. 30, according to the Racer Dining Instagram.

Einstein’s General Manager Audrey Kellet said since Oct. 8, they have been operating normal hours.

“We have been back to full operating hours for a week or so,” Kellett said. “Prior to that, we had to close for one hour in the afternoon to give employees a lunch break.”

Halcombe said the dining office and Sodexo reviewed traffic in each establishment to determine the best time to close and give employees a break.

“We determined which specific venues needed breaks to allow for us to give our employees breaks required by Kentucky law,” Halcombe said. “In addition, we reviewed traffic flow by 15-minute counts and worked with Murray State to determine the least obtrusive time for us to do so.”

Senior theatre major Kynlee Mohler says she is frustrated with the adjusted hours.

“As a theatre student, we often have late rehearsals,” Mohler said. “During our breaks we would run to Einstein’s or Market to grab something to eat, but with the adjusted hours we can’t do that anymore.”

Kellett said employees were working long weeks, but are working their regular hours again.

“It’s getting better,” Kellet said. “Supervisors were working [around] 50 [hours]; other employees working 30 [hours] or less.”

Kellett said the biggest challenge has been maintaining customer satisfaction.

“Trying to maintain good customer experience with limited staff and keeping the operation staffed from open to close,” Kellett said. “Trying to maximize student satisfaction during these trying times.”

Halcombe said they have worked hard to increase student employment by running advertisements in The Murray State News and promoting on social media.

“We are running constant social media campaigns as well as utilizing flyers, posters and yard signs to spread the word,” Halcombe said. “Anyone, anytime can also apply from the racerdining.sodexomyway.com website.”

On Racer Dining’s Instagram, some students have complained about the adjusted hours and have asked for their meal plans to be adjusted.

Halcombe said there are no plans to adjust meal plan rates.

“The past year has been a very challenging time for everyone with constant change and adjustment for impacts beyond our control,” Halcombe said. “When making the decision to make temporary minor adjustments to operating hours, we selected times that would be the least impactful for students and also ensured there were always dining options open and available for meal plans and flex plans.”