BRAINERD, Minn. – Sous chef Rayan Reid flashed a weary grin as he carefully garnished yet another perfectly sizzled steak with béarnaise sauce and sprinkled it with micro greens at Madden's on Gull Lake.
It was almost 9 p.m. and he was on hour number 85 of his workweek at the northern Minnesota resort. Or was it 90? He'd lost track. He could only brace himself for a long summer.
"Since we're short staffed, I have to come in early and make sure everything is ready for the night," he said. "I drink a lot of Red Bull."
A dire seasonal worker shortage is socking tourism-based businesses across the region and the country as the Memorial Day holiday weekend kicks off what most predict will be a booming summer.
Large resorts like Madden's all the way down to small mom-and-pop shops are posting help-wanted signs and getting creative in trying to lure workers by offering them flexible hours and more competitive wages. In the Brainerd Lakes area alone, Madden's resort is still in need of about 50 workers, Breezy Point Resort could use at least another 75 and Grand View Lodge wants about 50 more, too.
"This is about as tough as it's ever been," said Grand View's General Manager Mark Ronnei, who has worked at the lodge for 39 years. "We're all hands on deck right now."
The shortage reflects a major shift in demographics, particularly in parts of the region that are popular tourist destinations, where baby boomer workers are retiring faster than they can be replaced.
In Minnesota's Arrowhead region, the working-age population is expected to decline 4 percent between 2015 and 2025, according to the state demographer's office. In the north-central portion of the state, a 2.8 percent decline is projected. Both areas are expected to have the second and third most rapidly declining working-age populations, mostly because of a lack of in-migration.