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Restaurant workers quit at record rate

npr.org

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Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#101

Post by abaracadab »

colinmhayes wrote: post #21
yepthatsreality wrote: post #4

The restaurant industry has known the solution for a long time but everyone wants to pretend it would be too difficult. Stop the tipping guilt trip placed on the public, raise your prices 20%, and pay your employees a livable wage. The public will still show up to eat in your restaurant.

Restaurant work sucks, it's not tipping's fault. I don't work nearly as hard as a software developer compared to when I was a waiter or cook. Software development is lower stress most of the time too.

Some folks would say the same thing about software development sucking.

I think it probably depends on which restaurant you work at and on your skill set and ability to thrive in that fast paced environment.

The difference is that software is easier money if you have the knack for that type of work.

But it’s like anything: you have folks who are passionate about cooking but not business savvy. They might be excellent cooks but the potential customers just eat greasy shit and don’t appreciate nuance of vegetables and spices—and so the chefs are at the mercy of substance-less customer demands. How can one be excited about that?

Anyway, I don’t think the folks quitting their jobs fit this category because talented chefs can make a lot more than minimum wage. But it’s still relevant as one must be excited to go to work in the morning.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#102

Post by pphysch »

wutbrodo wrote: post #60
pphysch wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to go that far, you might as well mention how the "American Dream" has been dying since 2008 and took a major shock in 2020. Why work hard and bust your butt in a country and real economy that is falling apart and currently has no long-term prospects?

In what sense did the "American Dream" take a shock in 2020? Iirc, by far the greatest %-age net worth growth in 2020 was among the bottom 50%: greater than the growth in the top 10% or top 1%.

That wealth increase came from acute government intervention and was mostly ephemeral (look at inflation in car/house prices).

Outside the West, 2020 represented the decisive death of neoliberalism. No one is looking to America for the future anymore.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#103

Post by yurishimo »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #55
Pxtl wrote: post #37

Every time there's an SF Bay area thread, you get libertarians pointing out how the lack of enforcement against shoplifting has destroyed the ability to run stores in the area. From afar in Canada, I have no idea if this is true or not. But you can see the reflection of that in this mess - the lack of enforcement of cultural norms about being a nasty piece-of-work to waitstaff and other front-of-house jobs has raised…

as i've observed it is true in some kinds of stores like CVS/walgreens (like a shoppers drug mart in Canada). But I've never observed such behavior in, say, a Trader joes or a FF restaurant.

Yeah, CVS/etc are a special kind of case. They have a lot of the same products as a big box store, even alcohol, (but a limited variety). Because they're so much smaller, they can't justify dedicated resources for loss prevention.

Often times when I visit one of these stores, they have 1 or 2 employees working in the entire store, maybe 3 or 4 during a shift change or busy time. Never more than 2 people on a register.

I think these companies could alleviate the theft problems with more employees, but they don't want to pay the labor costs.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#104

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

chomp wrote: post #32
nostromo wrote: post #6

I’m sure it has nothing to do with the government paying people to sit at home - something NPR forgot to mention in their article.

Some people did decide that benefits are better than working yes, but the reality is more complicated than that - https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-restaurant-... I personally know 3 people who left the restaurant industry (1 RNA certification, 1 barbering, and one realtor) last year. I know of one person who spent their time during shutdown working on IT certifications who is currently planning an exi…

This is why furlough schemes (done for ages in Germany, and much of Western Europe during the pandemic) are a good idea.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#105

Post by rusk »

rocgf wrote: post #62
wyager wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, job stress has little to do with being extremely busy in the moment and a lot to do with thinking about far-flung high-leverage consequences of mistakes (will this system crash in the middle of the night 2 weeks from now, costing tons of money and causing someone to call me in a panic?). With something like being a cook, failure feedback is usually pretty immediate, which IMO is nice for stress levels.

Have you ever worked in a kitchen or are you just assuming? I personally haven't worked in a restaurant, but I see how the staff and chefs are always running around, doing 20 things at once. Stimulants use like cocaine and amphetamine is endemic in the industry as well, probably for that reason. As a restaurant worker, the pay is usually terrible as well. So while some super rich corporation won't lose millions off o…

I worked in very busy bars for a number of years. It’s hard sometimes back breaking work but it was certainly much more “fun”. Up until the point where you end up working for penny pinching gradgrinds who see your “fun” as an externality to be eliminated. At least as a software developer I’ve a good bit more leverage around matters of occupational convenience.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#106

Post by yepthatsreality »

tarr11 wrote: post #17
yepthatsreality wrote: post #4

The restaurant industry has known the solution for a long time but everyone wants to pretend it would be too difficult. Stop the tipping guilt trip placed on the public, raise your prices 20%, and pay your employees a livable wage. The public will still show up to eat in your restaurant.

A lot of this article is about fast food workers, who don’t get tips. The answer is automation, logistics and supply chain improvements so you can service more customers with fewer, but more specialized employees who can be paid a living wage.

Automation doesn’t solve every problem. Sometimes you want human interaction and there’s no reason that can’t be a part of the cost.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#107

Post by conductr »

wyager wrote: post #41
colinmhayes wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Restaurant work sucks, it's not tipping's fault. I don't work nearly as hard as a software developer compared to when I was a waiter or cook. Software development is lower stress most of the time too.

For me, job stress has little to do with being extremely busy in the moment and a lot to do with thinking about far-flung high-leverage consequences of mistakes (will this system crash in the middle of the night 2 weeks from now, costing tons of money and causing someone to call me in a panic?). With something like being a cook, failure feedback is usually pretty immediate, which IMO is nice for stress levels.

I wouldn't be a good cook, but I get what you're saying. I miss the jobs I had when I was young that were just repetitive tasks, once muscle memory was established, you could work a shift and have a fresh mind with no stress as soon as the shift ended. I suppose it would be nice if I had my current income with that type of job but alas it was also very unsatisfying to do for a long period of time and I think I'd feel a bit unaccomplished for doing that job for a career.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#108

Post by darth_avocado »

ashtonkem wrote: post #20
namdnay wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, as necessary as that is, it’s not a magic solution. People are quitting the restaurant industry in France too, despite having none of the tip silliness. It’s just that people are realizing that there are easier minimum wage jobs than working in a kitchen

Perhaps the industry is not sustainable then.

It used to be. When ordering food in a restaurant was a special thing for special occasions. It was expensive to eat out and the workers were compensated for it. Then we got to a place where food was supposed fast, cheap and accessible to everyone at any time. And suddenly you couldn't charge a lot for your food and worker wages stagnated. Sure more people work in the restaurant industry than they ever did before, but that's what happens. Quantity over quality in almost any service industry always means abundance of the service at the expense of the workers. Take a look at the rideshare business.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#109

Post by abaracadab »

daenz wrote: post #92
colinmhayes wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Restaurant work sucks, it's not tipping's fault. I don't work nearly as hard as a software developer compared to when I was a waiter or cook. Software development is lower stress most of the time too.

I knew someone who was mad at their partner because their partner was a software engineer and "didn't work as hard as they do" at a lower skill job, and yet made a lot more money. I'm not sure where this idea comes from that hard work is as valuable/more valuable than skilled work. But it seems to be a pervasive idea.

I have spent thousands of hours honing my software craft outside of work/school hours. I guarantee you most folks working those minimum wage jobs are not doing the same in their field. If they were passionate about it (whether front of house or in the kitchen) they would also hone their craft and work their way out of minimum wage.

The problem is that the turnover rate in restaurants is ALREADY very high. Most employees see it as a “stepping stone” while they get their careers on track.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#110

Post by kube-system »

k33n wrote: post #53

Great servers at high end restaurants are making 100K a year because of tips. Why would they want to make $20 an hour?

They are extreme outliers.

The 90th percentile wage for waiters (excluding fast-food!) is $20.46/hr. The 75th percentile is $14.73

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353031.htm

The vast majority of waiters would love to make a $20 wage.

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