Darden Restaurants Says 60K Furloughed Employees Are Back at Work

The Darden Restaurants company in Orlando, Florida, has brought back thousands of furloughed employees as states continue reopening.

“The announcement was made during the company’s ‘Fiscal 2020 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results’ call on Thursday,” according to Fox 35.

Darden restaurant brands included Olive Garden Italian Kitchen, Longhorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, the Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze Island Grille, and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood.

The strategy the company put in place five years ago helped to navigate the recent shutdown, CEO Gene Lee said in a statement.

“When our dining rooms closed, our operators did an amazing job of reimagining the guest experience by staying true to our back-to-basics operating philosophy,” the CEO explained.

Lee continued:

We benefited greatly from our competitive advantages that form the foundation of our strategy, especially our scale and our culture. Our scale allowed us to quickly react to constant change, while our team members displayed tremendous innovation, flexibility and passion as they continued to serve our guests. I’m incredibly proud of our teams and that our culture grew stronger during this time.

The full-service restaurant industry plays a vital role in our communities. As our industry continues to rebuild, there is significant opportunity to increase market share. Those executing at the highest level are going to win, and Darden is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity.

The business update also noted that “as of June 22, 91% of our dining rooms were open with at least limited capacity.”

On June 5, Florida entered phase two of reopening, which allowed restaurants to “continue operating at 50% indoor seating capacity and full capacity outdoors with appropriate social distancing,” according to Gov. Ron Desantis’s (R) website.

At a press conference Friday, the governor addressed concerns about a rise in positive coronavirus cases in the state, Breitbart News reported.

“A new case is just a positive test. It doesn’t mean somebody’s sick,” DeSantis noted, adding, “The number of cases is not necessarily something that’s going to tell you what the burden of the disease is.”