Problem
This case will focus on COVID and business management.
You own Happy Pizza in the Central Valley of California. Happy Pizza is a family owned pizza restaurant with 35 employees total. The COVID crisis has hit all restaurants very hard across the nation and you have felt some of the pain. Your restaurant has 15 tables indoors but 10 outdoors if you adjust your patio correctly.
When the state of California allowed restaurants to re-open as long as they take the dining outdoors and follow specific rules you were very happy as your restaurant now had a chance to survive.
When you emailed all of your former employees about coming back you received only 8 responses of approval. The remaining employees either said that they were too scared to return and needed assurance of workplace safety. They felt that the restaurant may not be able to protect them. A few former employees claimed that they were making more money with governmental assistance and didn't need to go back yet. A few mentioned that they could not work the same way as before because their own children were not in school and they had to be the 'teacher' full-time for them at home. None of the employees were negative and almost all were appreciative of the email.
You have a problem. You know several friends who also own restaurants in the local cities and you ask them about how they solve this. They said that nobody is applying for the job openings. Some mention that many people know that restaurant work is in trouble and that they got burned bad the last time. One rapid increase in COVID cases and the restaurant would shut, with them losing their jobs again.
You want to make your restaurant survive but you need to address realistically the issues before you.
Write an analysis of the situation and your recommendations (based on August/September 2021 reality).