Unemployment hits Asheville hard, thinning jobs and income. ‘We got to keep people here’

New state unemployment numbers make official what Asheville residents already know, Helene hit the city’s once booming economy hard.

Asheville in November had the highest unemployment rate – 6.1 % – of any metropolitan region in North Carolina for the second month in a row, according to the latest state Department of Commerce data. In September, the rate for the metro area was 2.6%.

Asheville’s signature hospitality industry – a distinctive mix of bars, restaurants, breweries and hotels – is especially hard hit. While the industry saw more jobs filled in November than October, fewer exist in that sector compared to last year in the Asheville metro area, according to state data.

People looking for work are feeling the pinch.

John Ayers, of West Asheville, has put in nearly two dozen applications and cold-called a handful more looking for work as a cook since he was let go from his job at Nine Mile — a Caribbean restaurant — in November.

He landed three interviews but, so far, no offers have been extended.

“The jobs that are out there, especially jobs that would pay anything near a living wage in Asheville, there’s just so much competition out there for it right now,” he said.

A bigger picture

The loss of leaf season, the autumn weeks when tourists usually stream to Asheville, and a slow start to winter business has kept many businesses from reopening or on limited hours. And for those that have reopened, many are unable to bring on full staff, local industry experts say.

Asheville Food and Beverage United estimates that 75% of service industry workers in the area either lost their jobs or had their hours drastically reduced after Helene.

And while the state gave a bump to unemployment benefits for those impacted by Helene, some say it isn’t enough to keep up with their piling bills.

In a report published a year ago, the leisure and hospitality industry in the metro area employed more than 31,000 people, according to AVL Today. Asheville’s metro area includes Buncombe, Haywood, Madison and and Henderson counties.

But now the Asheville area’s food and beverage workforce remains in a state of limbo, with some people unsure of how to proceed in a city without consistent work.

While some have considered leaving the industry others have left town altogether.

“Every week, there seems to be more businesses saying, ‘Sorry guys, we’re not gonna be able to make it,” Jen Hampton, director of the Asheville Food and Beverage United said. “And it’s really disheartening.”

Jobs few and far between

While 70% of Asheville’s restaurants reopened as of mid-December, many have drastically reduced hours due to reduced business, Hampton said.

Green Man Brewery didn’t sustain significant damage, but earnings dropped after Helene, said Eric McDonald, director of food and beverage there. They’re only seen 30% of the foot traffic that they’re used to this time of year, he said during an interview.

With little revenue and no public water right after Helene hit, the brewery had to lay off most of its staff, McDonald said. But even with water back online, he’s only been able to bring back a quarter of the employees.

The fall season traditionally is a lifeline for many Asheville-area service industry workers, said Megan Rogers of the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association.

“October, November, December – leaf season through the holidays – is our busiest quarter, and so not just the restaurants, but the employees count on that revenue to then hold them over through the slower winter months,” she said.

For employers, the road to getting people to work is dependent on tourists coming back to town and spending money, McDonald said.

“If I’m a server or a bartender and I need to make money, it’s great. Thanks for giving my job back, but there’s nobody here,” he said. “We need people coming back.”

Ayers has been a cook for the last five years, but before that, had a career as a clerk of court in Cherokee. While he’d be open to positions outside of the kitchen, he has a deep love for his job in the restaurant industry, he said.

“I found that when I am in a good restaurant with a good team that serves solid food, and I’m in the kitchen in an environment like that. I am extremely happy,” he said, adding: “That’s really where my heart is right now.”

Unemployment not enough

Workers and industry experts alike say they’ve seen many people leave town hoping to find jobs that will help them pay their bills.

Jo Williams is among them. She made up to $1000 a week before her Asheville restaurant job was a storm casualty, she said. Once she landed on unemployment, her weekly revenue was reduced to less than a third of that – $300, she said.

Williams looked for jobs around town and tried to work connections but nothing panned out. Feeling out of options, she and a roommate packed up in November and left for Charlotte hoping for better luck to find work.

“I’ve never been unemployed in that town,” she said, of the experience.

”Knowing many people there and having many connections and still not being able to find a job is scary,” she added.

Former Gov. Cooper instituted an executive order to increase weekly unemployment benefits from a maximum of $350 a week to $600 in October.

While the increase is appreciated, it’s still not enough to cover the expenses for the average food and beverage worker, Rogers said.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Asheville sits at about $1,500 before utilities, according to Apartments.com.

Ayres collects $450 weekly in unemployment and lives with his girlfriend in West Asheville, he said. Her job was not impacted by the storm so making rent was not a problem for them.

But he knows that isn’t the case for everyone.

“If I lived on my own in Asheville at $450 a week, I might be able to afford the rent for a place but I wouldn’t be able to have power or anything turned on,” he said. “I don’t see how people can survive without roommates if you’re making under that living wage in Asheville.”

The help hospitality workers in Asheville need most is rent and mortgage assistance and an eviction moratorium, Hampton said. Without it, she fears the implications.

“We got to keep people here,” she said.

This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM.