Labor Shortages in the Food-Service Industry
Tonight at dinner, my brother announced that he started a new side job at a local grocery store and market (think: hot food bar, smoothie station, insanely priced blueberries). He was interested in getting professional kitchen experience and decided there was no better way to do so than by working at the pizza bar on Friday-Monday nights. My sister, who is getting her masters to become a registered dietitian, asked my brother what the application process was like, hoping to apply to be the same store’s full-time nutritionist after her graduation in May.
A few weeks before, my brother simply walked into the store, asked to speak to the chef, and explained his passion for sustainable agriculture. He came back the next day, had a quick interview with the food team and was behind the counter tossing pizza dough by 8 p.m. the next night.
Not to discredit my talented brother, but it wasn’t too hard for him to snag a job in the food industry right now. According to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 722,000 restaurant and hotel workers have quit since June, leading to over 1.4 million job openings in the industry. Additionally, these same workers who quit are moving to higher-paid jobs in the same industries. This may be due to the fact that companies are offering sign-on bonuses and incentives like free meals and cash for interviewing.
Although restaurants and grocery stores are taking extra health precautions to ensure the safety of their customers (which means longer hours for workers), employees are experiencing rude and hasty behavior from shoppers and diners.
One night a man came into the store demanding a custom pizza even though the kitchen had closed and the employees were sanitizing everything. According to my brother, it took four managers, a call to headquarters and a newly dirtied kitchen until the customer was satisfied. He left with his custom half veggie/half pepperoni pizza. The customer is always right, but my brother was not quick to forget feeling frustrated and disrespected.
Based on the statistics listed above, some restaurant employees are no longer put up with this behavior when they are getting paid lower wages. Movements like Fight for $15 advocate for workers to get paid a minimum wage of at least $15/hr. With higher wages, workers will be able to buy more goods and have a larger disposable income. If workers were treated and paid better, there may not be as much turnover and people would have more incentive to stay at a certain company. Like Jean Baptiste Say said, “supply creates its own demand.” But, the issue right now is that the labor force is lacking on the supply side.
We are in a unique situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic because many employees with children no longer want to work a job with long, late hours and deal with difficult customer interactions. This change in priorities has led to a labor shortage in the food industry’s service, which was directly reflected in my brother’s situation. But how much longer will people like my brother keep their restaurant jobs if wages increase and people with more flexible hours and desired skills increase the competition…?
