EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University's Culinary Services is closing its dining halls to the public due to a labor shortage.
Dining halls will only be open to those with MSU-issued IDs, and the university will be offering limited menus during transitional hours and limiting some services like providing mobile pick-up.
The shortage stems from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to MSU. Culinary Services usually employs upwards of 3,000 students and a mixture full and part-time employees. But when the pandemic hit Culinary Services cut back its team and reduced dining operations to serve the remaining students and staff at MSU.
In the time since, many workers have found other jobs, leaving Culinary Services scrambling to hire for many open positions.
“Given our current challenges, we need to modify operations in our dining facilities. This step will help us continue providing quality service to MSU students, faculty and support staff. We also need to support our team members who are working tirelessly to deliver an outstanding experience to guests," said Rebecca Selesky who serves as the executive director of Culinary Services.
“Closing the residential dining halls to the public was a difficult decision," she said. "However, it is our responsibility to minimize the impact of labor and food supply chain shortages and maintain our commitment to high-quality customer service. We determined that limiting public access was the best way to serve the high volume of students who dine with us."
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