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> That's because for many, leaving food service had a lot to do also with its high-stress culture: exhausting work, unreliable hours, no benefits and so many rude customers. I didn't realize that rude customers was that widespread.
Go on a cruise and spend some time people watching. People can be awful.
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.
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 exit. I don't blame these people for not working in food service. I did my time there, it's miserable on all fronts.
I think the bigger problem is shutting down the industry and starting it back up. People who had to go elsewhere to make ends meet aren't going to go back. It's going to take a long time for these restaurants to recover lost talent. They are going to have to offer a lot more than the old status quo if they want to woo workers back.
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.
"Cornett, off work for a few weeks, realized he received enough money through unemployment benefits to start saving — for the first time. He wondered if the work he loves would ever entail a job that came with health insurance or paid leave."
> That's because for many, leaving food service had a lot to do also with its high-stress culture: exhausting work, unreliable hours, no benefits and so many rude customers. I didn't realize that rude customers was that widespread.
Less objectively, I feel like assholes are much more likely to express their negativity in a service scenario. You may run into these people all the time and not see their behavior until you're the one serving them.
The ways some people not-uncommonly behave can be absolutely gobsmacking. It's hard to relate to what is going on in these people's emotional thoughts. Spontaneous stress reactions like road rage are at least relatable, but the purposeful way some people treat others when being served by them can be, frankly, totally alien.
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 the labour expectations to the point that it's no longer a worthwhile employment option for many people. There are similar jobs with similar pay but less emotional labor.
This is the price of ignoring the emotionally laborious. And yes, "laborious" has a two different meanings when applied to people.
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.
Were you only paid if you didn’t work? From what I understood the checks were given to everyone?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
heh or go the other way with more immigration of cheap labor who are willing to absorb the abuse.
> rude customers, whose abuses restaurant staff are often forced to tolerate Service workers in general, I'd love it if more managers and companies would support front line workers in refusing service. The customer is not always right. People should not have to put up with literal abuse. The Alamo Drafthouse theater is famously known for kicking someone out who was using their cell phone and other customers appreciat…