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Restaurant workers quit at record rate

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Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#571

Post by notsureaboutpg »

MomoXenosaga wrote: post #553
browningstreet wrote: post #498

I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages. In the vacation community where I live, there are two grocery/delis about a mile apart from each other. One is at a marina, the other is at a beach. They have almost the same business offering. Traditionally, both are fully mobbed during the sunny seasons. Two weeks ago, I visited the one I usually go to -- at the…

Not sure how it is in the US but where I live restaurant owners are wealthy entrepreneurs driving around expensive SUVs. Every sunny day the restaurants and bars are packed from morning until midnight. If they need more staff they have the money to pay better wages. That's how every other industry deals with labour shortages.

Where do you live? I honestly have trouble believing this. Restaurants are a notoriously low margin business, the one most associated with having family members do labor in them to decrease costs...

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#572

Post by shados »

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.

Thats more a solution for the customer. That comes up a lot, and times and again its pointed out that the employees hate the idea (likely because of survivor bias, where those who are making it in the current system would be worse off in a different one).

Long term it likely would help, but short term it would make it harder, not easier, to get employees.

In no small part because so much of the tip wages are under the table.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#573

Post by trophycase »

browningstreet wrote: post #498

I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages. In the vacation community where I live, there are two grocery/delis about a mile apart from each other. One is at a marina, the other is at a beach. They have almost the same business offering. Traditionally, both are fully mobbed during the sunny seasons. Two weeks ago, I visited the one I usually go to -- at the…

Same thing is happening with entire buildings in my city. They'd rather evict their entire set of renters than lower the rent.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#574

Post by chrisseaton »

itsoktocry wrote: post #530
browningstreet wrote: post #498

I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages. In the vacation community where I live, there are two grocery/delis about a mile apart from each other. One is at a marina, the other is at a beach. They have almost the same business offering. Traditionally, both are fully mobbed during the sunny seasons. Two weeks ago, I visited the one I usually go to -- at the…

> I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages I'm skeptical that a business would choose to go out of business rather that give raises. Have you considered that margins are tighter than you think? I know small businesses like that.

Am I the only person who thinks restaurant prices are pretty low? I'm sure they could go up quite a bit. Lunch out costs me maybe £15. Surely that could be £20 or so?

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#575

Post by fragmede »

greedo wrote: post #508
Spooky23 wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think so. Hilton Head Island, SC is a great example of the trend that COVID accelerated. Hilton Head is a popular vacation destination, but as development started radiating inland towards I95, all of the workers are priced out. The housekeeper at the hotel I stayed at in 2019 commuted 2.5 hours daily, and restaurants started reducing hours due to labor shortages. COVID made it worse, but the problem existed b…

I'm not sure a waiter at a good steakhouse is making a good living. It's been a while since I worked food service, so I might be making some poor assumptions, but: 1. Most waiters don't get health benefits 2. Most waiters don't get retirement plans 3. Most waiters are at the whim of the restaurant managers 4. There's only so many tables you can turn in a shift, and tips average under 20%. 5. Most waiters don't get an…

Your numbered points stand - no healthcare, no retirement, or other benefits a FAANG employee would have, but your numbers are low for a high end restaurant. A good steakhouse for 4 might cost closer to $500, $800 for just food at the highest end, with booze being another couple hundred on top of that. And then there's the cash aspect of it. Each night's tips are required to be declared to the IRS, and not reporting it would be tax fraud, but the reality is I'm sure not everything gets reported, boosting take home amounts, making the numbers incomparable without further analysis.

I've heard of bartenders making more than $100k/yr, (but still with no benefits).

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#576

Post by notsureaboutpg »

browningstreet wrote: post #498

I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages. In the vacation community where I live, there are two grocery/delis about a mile apart from each other. One is at a marina, the other is at a beach. They have almost the same business offering. Traditionally, both are fully mobbed during the sunny seasons. Two weeks ago, I visited the one I usually go to -- at the…

In California they just issued "relief" to a bunch of random (often very high class, fancy) restaurants in the order of millions per restaurant.

I really dislike the "bailout" concept and really think a risky, non-vital business like a restaurant should be the last one to receive such a consideration, but if I were a restaurant owner and knew the government would cut me a multiple millions dollars check and all I had to do was wait out employees till they'd accept low wages again, I'd try my hand at it.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#577

Post by forz877 »

megameter wrote: post #378
okprod wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the Shake Shack founder tried the no tipping-- increase prices route at his fancy restaurant and ended up reversing the decision.

Ending tipping needs a top-down enforcement of norms akin to pandemic response measures. The restaurants that try to go it alone confuse and sticker-shock their customers, unfortunately.

I don't see why we need to end tipping. Keep it, and raise wages. I get that it's the flavor of the week for people to rally around, but I don't see a problem. Let's let the market solve the problem. The last thing we need is even more bureaucracy and laws to police something that doesn't need policed.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#578

Post by greedo »

coredog64 wrote: post #288
tibbydudeza wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Restaurants operate on tiny margins If you are a KFC/Burger King/McDonalds franchisee then it seems to work but I have lost count the number of establishments that open/closes in that one spot of our local mall. Pub/Indian/Pizza/Chinese/Fish & Chips/ - they come and go.

I would draw a further distinction. Some franchise operations (thinking Subway and Little Caesars) don’t really care if you make it: They get their money up front and you have to pay to get out. McD is more strategic: They want a good business plan, location, etc. and are very picky at the cost of some false negatives.

They also require a huge amount of capital for new franchisees.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#579

Post by pope_meat »

shados wrote: post #572
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.

Thats more a solution for the customer. That comes up a lot, and times and again its pointed out that the employees hate the idea (likely because of survivor bias, where those who are making it in the current system would be worse off in a different one). Long term it likely would help, but short term it would make it harder, not easier, to get employees. In no small part because so much of the tip wages are under th…

Some tips are under the table. You'd be surprised how well it's tracked in most places though. Tax man tends to get his.

Re: Restaurant workers quit at record rate

#580

Post by josephcsible »

trophycase wrote: post #573
browningstreet wrote: post #498

I think some businesses are going out of businesses because they stubbornly refuse to raise their wages. In the vacation community where I live, there are two grocery/delis about a mile apart from each other. One is at a marina, the other is at a beach. They have almost the same business offering. Traditionally, both are fully mobbed during the sunny seasons. Two weeks ago, I visited the one I usually go to -- at the…

Same thing is happening with entire buildings in my city. They'd rather evict their entire set of renters than lower the rent.

That's a consequence of rent control laws, which limit the percent that you can raise rent by per year. Ever lowering rent in a place with such a law is penny-wise but pound-foolish.
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