Josie Lilly chose to change careers during the coronavirus pandemic.

1. Hotel workers pitch in to cover labor shortage

Hundreds of people who worked in restaurants and bars on the North Coast were laid off when the coronavirus pandemic first hit.

Many looked for other service sector jobs or collected extended unemployment benefits while waiting to reenter the workforce.

But some, like Josie Lilly, used the interruption as an opportunity to change careers.

“After three months, I was just like, ‘OK, it’s time to do something different. I’m not gonna sit around and wait to go back to this industry,’” she said.

Last spring, Gallup researchers found that 48% of U.S. workers were actively job searching or watching for opportunities. Younger workers, in particular, are looking for change. A Washington Post-Schar School poll in July found that 1 in 3 workers under 40 considered changing their occupations during the pandemic.

Lilly worked as a waitress at several restaurants for over two decades. She was working at Astoria Coffeehouse and Bistro when she was laid off in March 2020.

Shortly after she lost her job, her daughter’s school closed to in-person classes. A lack of child care options meant Lilly spent the early days of the pandemic as her daughter’s playmate, only adding to her desire to make a career change.

“It was kind of like a sense of feeling trapped because I was with my daughter 24/7,” she said. “I loved her, but at the same time, I need space to do stuff I need to do.”

So Lilly finally took steps toward pursuing her longtime goal of becoming an electrician.

She enrolled in classes at Portland Community College and worked part time at Columbia Housewarmers when she was able to find a babysitter.

Now over a year since her career shift, she is still taking classes remotely and hopes to land an apprenticeship in the coming months.

Reflecting back on her time as a waitress, Lilly remains happy with her decision to exit the field. “I was actually elated because I wanted out of the restaurant industry for a really long time,” she said.

While a number of factors led to burnout, she said the lack of respect from customers played the biggest role.

“It’s pretty draining because people go in there and take out all their problems on you,” she said. “(When) people are hungry, you are basically constantly being abused and expected to smile and be nice to them.”

The added tensions during the pandemic could be among the driving forces behind the worker shortage that has plagued so many businesses.

“A lot of it lies with the way they’re treated and the people who are coming in,” Lilly said. “I know they are trying to raise people’s wages, and that definitely helps because people are more willing to take on those sorts of things if they’re making a higher wage to kind of mentally compensate themselves for the abuse.

“But I really think that stuff has to happen to bring the anxiety levels down, or anger levels down, to make it better for people.”

Judging from her own experience, Lilly also thinks the lack of affordable child care options is a barrier.

As the labor shortage takes its toll, she believes it’s going to take a major effort to lure workers back.

“If employers treat their employees with better wages, health care, making it more stable … and finding a way to help them deal with the abuse in some way, that would definitely help,” she said.

While Lilly sees her exit from the restaurant industry as inevitable, she is grateful she was able to use the pandemic as a transition period in her life.

“I probably would have (changed careers), but it would have probably taken me a lot longer,” she said. “You get stuck in the loop of, ‘I just need to pay the bills. I just need to keep going on the same course until something (gets) derailed.’

“You only have to be like, ‘Oh, wait, there are other options.’”