The Omicron wave is putting a lot of pressure on grocery stores to continue their operations despite a sharp increase in absenteeism among their employees who are sick or need to take time off work.
In Quebec grocery stores, the rate of absenteeism would vary between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, estimates Pierre-Alexandre Blouin, president and general manager of Quebec's food retailers association.
"I would say to you that we touch wood every day in each of the stores to know if we are going to lose a lot today 1/8 of the 3/8 employees or not. We're hoping it will turn around because it puts a lot of pressure on the teams," Blouin said.
The holiday school break allowed student employees to offer more availability to compensate for absences, but Eric Courtemanche Baril, owner of a Marché Tradition in Quebec City, fears that the situation will become more difficult in the coming weeks: "It's certain that in the following weeks, we won't be able to turn around as quickly and give hours to people who are not in school."
Because of staffing shortages, some grocers may be forced to close departments or reduce their hours. At Baril's store, about 15 per cent of employees are off work because of COVID-19.
He remembers two times when absenteeism rose to 25 per cent, during the second and third waves of the pandemic. "We had to close some departments and reduce our hours of operation. I was closing at 9:01 p.m. instead of 11:03 p.m. because of a lack of employees. There were departments I closed on occasion like the ready-to-eat department. When you fall above 20 to 25 per cent, you have no choice but to close departments or reduce your hours."
RAPID TESTS HARD TO FIND
The Association des détaillants en alimentation du Québec (ADA) would like to see grocery store workers have better access to testing, which would reduce the isolation period for employees who are not infected. Fearing a shortage, Quebec has limited access to PCR testing. The food industry must therefore turn to rapid antigen tests.
"We're going to be dependent on the availability of rapid tests," Blouin said. "Some retailers have already ordered them, some have already used them all, some are waiting to get them."
Grocers aren't the only ones dealing with absenteeism issues. The entire food chain is under pressure, says Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
"The problem with Omicron is that it hits hard and it hits extremely fast. The industry is not allowed to adapt," he said.
This was the case at an Exceldor slaughterhouse near Quebec City, where a decision was made to euthanize chickens that could not be processed due to a lack of personnel. The cooperative attributed its difficulties to the increase in COVID-19 infections combined with federal delays in processing temporary foreign worker applications.
In this context, Quebec public health had no choice but to reduce the isolation period from 10 days to five days for people infected with COVID-19, Charlebois believes.
"Even if public health was criticized, from the industry's point of view, I don't see how we could have had a choice," he said "It's unbelievable what's going on."
Charlebois does not anticipate grocery store closures, but he believes that consumers should expect not to find on the shelves all the products they are used to consuming. "I am a little worried about what is happening with the supply chain right now. It's not going to be easy to keep people and make sure there's fluidity in the chain."
He urges consumers not to rush to the grocery store to stock up.
"Panicking would be the worst thing you could do," he warned. "It's better to go to the grocery store a few times, if you're comfortable doing that. If you don't, it's going to get worse if people buy their food too far in advance."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 6, 2022.
