Employees Are Resigning En Masse, Here’s Why
My small-business-owning parents sold their restaurant after experiencing a post-pandemic employee shortage. No one saw it coming. When my parents closed their restaurant dining room to abide by the law during the height of Covid-19, they never expected they wouldn’t fully open a year later.
After Covid-19 precautions eased and dining rooms were free to open back up to the public, many stayed closed, not out of fear of the virus but because there wasn’t enough hired help to serve guests. Many thought September 2021 was going to mark the end of the pandemic closures as Covid relief programs came to a close. Rent was due, bills were due, and children were back in school; yet, employees didn’t return to work. Today, Now Hiring signs hang in the dark windows of almost every restaurant and retail store in my hometown. Unfortunately, there still isn’t enough hired help, and doors are closing for good.
My parents strategized with their managers to best serve guests with limited numbers of employees but the prospect of not finding help kept them up at night. Their dining room stayed closed after the lift in Covid protocol before opening back up under restricted hours. There were just enough employees to keep the restaurant running, but few employees also meant there wasn’t a lot of competition for jobs, which means businesses are forced to hire whoever is ready to show up in uniform. The result is a decrease in work ethic among employees and a compromise in prior standards.
Today, after leaving a brunch restaurant with my partner, he remarked on how poor the service is everywhere we go since he moved to my hometown at the height of the pandemic. I felt sympathy for our tired waitress and didn’t get upset with her attitude. “There’s no competition,” I explained, “anyone willing to work is hired, and employers are so desperate they let everything slide.” We regularly go out for a nice meal and spend money on a dining experience with terrible customer service. The service is awful enough that we feel bad about ourselves or the restaurant while driving home in a silent car. Entire businesses are making due with about four reliable employees; these employees feel the brunt of the work, of the customer service smile, of the dry hands from washing most of the dishes, on their shoulders.
So, where have employees gone?
With gas prices rising and a war raging in Ukraine, we should see some economic resurrection as workers return to jobs to keep up with rising inflation, but cash registers remain unmanned and dining rooms closed. So how are people surviving without the incomes they left behind?
During the pandemic, many workers were forced out of jobs in the service industry. They turned to government assistance programs to help them while waiting to see if or when they were going back to work. In this time, two things might have happened. First, job seekers found better pay elsewhere and continued working in a similar but different service industry that kept its legs during pandemic closures. Second, the unemployed person pocketed government assistance checks, saved their money during lockdown by not going out, not having occasions to buy goods, and spent the lockdown period investing in themselves as employees. They might have done virtual certifications, continuing education, or honed skills that helped them transition into more secure and better-paying jobs.
Employees, like my parents once had, might have walked down the road where another desperate employer offered $1–2 dollars more an hour. It’s understandable in an economy where inflation is accelerating quickly. They might have taken a moment
The Silver Lining
The pause during lockdown allowed employers to understand their employees better. Ben Casselman, a reporter for the NY Times, wrote,
If we continue in this vein, perhaps we are creating a more enjoyable society overall. Living wages, adequate time off for holidays and births of children, employers who invest in their employees, and employees with life-long careers at businesses they enjoy working at could all be part of a new future. In some ways, the pandemic served as a cultural reset that will help reshape a better future.
The next time you peek into the kitchen of a fast-food chain or restaurant you used to love, take note of how many employees are keeping the ship afloat. Maybe this insight will help you understand why you were greeted without a smile, seated like you were a nuisance, or generally didn’t receive the service you once enjoyed. Maybe in the empty space where there should be an employee, is someone who is home with their child, or working somewhere else with better pay, waiting to see if their employer can offer them a lifestyle worth living.
