Know someone looking for a job?

Love barbecue?

Moe’s Original Bar B Que has a deal for you.

In an effort to find workers, the South Portland restaurant is offering a free meal every day for a year to anyone who refers a successful candidate.

“We’ve struggled” to find people, said Dewey Hasbrouck, the owner of Moe’s, which also has a location in Bangor. “The unemployment rate is so low that it’s tough.”

Maine’s unemployment rate in October was 3.4 percent and has been below 4 percent for 35 consecutive months.

Hasbrouck said he’s put help-wanted ads on Craigslist and touted the need for workers on Moe’s Facebook page, but came up empty. So they searched for a way to reach more potential workers.

“I thought, ‘why don’t we use everybody in Portland for a referral?'” Hasbrouck said.

Moe’s needs help in the kitchen and in the front of the house, Hasbrouck said, probably two or three workers right now. The Bangor location is fully staffed.

He said the labor pinch started about a year ago, when applicants who were not really qualified started showing up. Then, prospects began to skip interviews, Hasbrouck said, and lately there’s been no response at all.

“What we’ve been doing is not working,” he said. So now, if someone refers a job candidate who is hired, the referer will get one free meal a day, in-restaurant at either the Bangor or South Portland restaurant, as long as the employee stays on the job or until Jan. 1, 2020, whichever comes first.

Even if the jobs now open are filled, Hasbrouck said, the-reward-the-referer deal will be an ongoing promotion as jobs come open.

“At the end of the day, it’s a win-win for everybody,” he said.

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