Dominoes Pizza, one of the largest and fastest growing food service companies in the United States, recently announced that its revenues for the recent quarter were lower then expectations due to the ongoing nationwide worker shortage. Domino’s Pizza CEO Ritch Allison told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that the American restaurant industry is being hurt by a slowdown in immigration. “In the U.S. with minimal population growth organically, we do — we need immigration in our industry to continue to have enough team members,” Allison said.
Domino’s attributed some of the domestic sales dip to challenges around hiring workers to adequately staff its stores. It served as the latest example of companies calling attention to the difficulties of filling open jobs as the economy recovers from a pandemic-induced recession. In his Friday morning note to CNBC Investing Club members, Cramer wrote: “The labor shortage issue is VERY serious… need more births and immigration, according to DPZ CEO Ritch Allison last night on Mad Money.” Reflecting further on conversations with Allison, Cramer said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Friday that it was “shocking” and “sobering.”
