Staffing in the time of Covid

So much of what made Bread by Us “successful” as a business was tied to our ability to crank out large volumes of bread & pastry, and serve it crowds of people, unencumbered. We could capitalize on beautiful spring days when people were strolling down Wellington Street. Our café was always teaming with life. That all came to a grinding halt on March 15th, and right now, it seems that everywhere we turn, we come up against roadblocks and constraints to re-building what was lost.

Aside from the lack of crowds (which is valid and frankly, a good thing right now!), a big source of strain and struggle is finding the right & safe combination of people to operate our paired-down bakery. Right before we closed our doors, one of our bakers had her last shift with us. As tough as that is, we forged ahead and sought a replacement. We interviewed a handful of people, and one candidate stood out. We offered her a job on March 13th, and by March 15th, there were no operations to speak of.

By the time our online shop was ready to launch, two of our bakers were ready to come back to work, as their households were low-risk. However, our other two experienced bakers were not ready to come back to work, as their households were higher-risk and their presence at the bakery could pose a risk to other workers or to members of their families. Given that case levels in Ontario aren’t dropping, and testing isn’t where we need it to be, they might be left out of the workplace for a while.

Enter our newest baker! We launched our online store with a baker who, while VERY talented in pastry, has little experience with bread. Her first shift was last Saturday (our launch day), and she worked alongside someone with lots of experience. To say it was a cruel day to start at a bakery would be an understatement. The pressures of that weekend felt in line with the pressures of a major holiday – everything was pre-ordered; there was no margin for error.

In the end, we pulled it off. I got called in early Saturday morning because we bit off more than we could chew. I threw an apron on, helped get production back on track, and by the time the doors opened, bread was shared and people were happy. We pulled it off. I won’t lie – there were a few tears shed that day (some of them might have been mine). The pressure was intense. First days are clunky. Bakers had to shake off the cobwebs. But slowly, our confidence is coming back.

Below the surface, we are training someone new while working out a whole new system of getting bread to you. Bakers are the heart of our company – our capacity is 100% in line with their experience, training, and ability to show up. At the moment, this is tricky, but gradually, we’ll build ourselves back up.

Hope you’ve enjoyed and appreciated a little inside-view on the goings-on in this wild place we call Bread by Us.