12:13 p.m. ET, February 2, 2024
Demand for services — and jobs — remains at a fever pitch
Jillian Hiscock, center wearing a white hat, poses for a photo with her friends and family in December.
Courtesy Jillian Hiscock
While the leisure and hospitality industry added a mere 11,000 jobs in January, the critical service sector registered its 36th consecutive month of job gains. Post-pandemic, services businesses have benefited from Americans’ strong desires to spend money on experiences.
As that demand remains at a fever pitch, one new bar and restaurant in Minneapolis is seeing the effects.
Jillian Hiscock is about a month away from opening A Bar of Their Own, which exclusively will show women’s sporting events. The concept, inspired by The Sports Bra in Portland, Oregon, has garnered overwhelming support from the Twin Cities community since Hiscock floated the idea last spring and ran a crowdfunding campaign to get it off the ground.
The same was true for the hiring efforts: Hiscock received 150 applications in two days’ time for 25 to 30 open positions.
“Since things have opened back up [following the pandemic], we’ve had a lot of folks whose relationships with work has fundamentally changed,” she said. “Showing up and just doing a thing for somebody that you feel doesn’t care about as a human is less interesting to people now, because we all know how quick that can be taken away.”
People want a better balance between their job and personal life, she said.
“People were really excited about this, not just seeing this as another job, but seeing this as an opportunity to be a part of something bigger,” she said.
Jessica Roberts is a seasoned business writer who deciphers the intricacies of the corporate world. With a focus on finance and entrepreneurship, she provides readers with valuable insights into market trends, startup innovations, and economic developments.
