Until they need to show up in court! Even Sheldon's Mobile Virtual Presence Device requires a human behind it . But yes, I'd imagine most or all of the paperwork can be offshored or automated. Possibly more of the paralegal responsibilities in larger firms.

Anecdotally, my brother leads a corporate accounting department, it's not a huge staff. He only has one male in the department, and he's the newest, in an entry-level position.

Waiting tables seemed to be more of a female majority thing across much of the US than it is nowadays. [Beyond the US cities, it's become much more of an equal balance in that role than used to be the case.]

The grunt lawyers doing the work in North America and Europe has gone in the other direction; and of the work which I see, it is now much more often done by female lawyers . 20 years ago, the majority of the same kind of legal work was done by males. While the top ranks of the legal world are still very much overwhelmingly male-majority, it's not rare for me to notice that these very same senior lawyers in the private sector and even in government seem to either prefer having the work done by female lawyers or are having a harder time finding equally-qualified male lawyers of a comparable age when it comes to recruiting.

Across the board, workers definitely jump around more often than used to be the case. And so it shouldn't be a surprise that in an industry where the jobs are considered less desirable due to working hours, compensation packages, customer demeanor, fickle management, and firms that have a higher than usual chance of folding (for financial reasons or even on a whim), that people who can leave the industry do so and don't look back when they find something better. And those with greater mobility will use it, while those will less mobility will be the proverbial adult child living in mamma's basement hooked to video games. Maybe mamma will get the son out to work at some of the neighboring restaurants from time to time, but the daughter has probably already moved on and won't want to look back.

I will note that in areas with boom-bust construction cycles, construction trades jobs can easily come and go too.

My area lost probably 30-40% of its former plumber and electrician jobs in the 2008-09 recession and despite both general new home building really picking up and hurricane recovery rebuilding, there are still fewer of those jobs locally than there were in 2005

Very true. One of the key requirement for keeping employed even as a skilled tradesperson (or anyone required to be physically present), is mobility. Those who are anchored to an area that is depopulating may find themselves underemployed/compensated even when demand for their skills is high overall.

A former neighbour who moved from a very hot economic area to someplace much less so a few years ago (may have changed since COVID) said trades labour rate were half the cost of what they were here.

Even a few years ago, I read that 80% of U.S. law schools were unnecessary (as were their graduates). I guess pay from alternative professions & occupations was higher than what companies needing to review documents could find offshore and compuerisation.

Pre-computerisation (well within the lifetimes of some people), imagine the legends of book keepers, accountants and financial clerks needed to keep books. Banks, when bank books were in the vogue and ledgers were all hand written.

Two relevant dining experiences:

1. Upscale ($100+ pp tab) restaurant (La Goulue) in a Florida resort town -- both bar and dining room busy. Not enough valet peeps, but restaurant itself staffing adequate to good. Everything arrived reasonably timely. Nice experience.
2. Upper-mid-market (Maggiano's, around $60 pp tab) restaurant in an exurban lifestyle center -- also busy. One bartender, clearly overwhelmed with a full bar and hightops. 15+ minutes to get drinks (while waiting for reservation). Dining room about 67% full, but reservations seated around 15 minutes behind schedule. Apparently not enough servers to open the entire dining room. Server was fine -- upbeat and prompt -- also announced it was his second day. He had four or five tables, which he was handling well. Another server toward the end of dinner made a big show to tell our server "no more seatings -- the front door is locked" (Big outcry of relief) This was around 9pm. I had seen walk-ins turned away while at the bar. Still a nice overall experience.

I've been cooking more during Covid. With all the work-from-home time, I can slow-cook things like Ossobucco which I would not have attempted before the changes. I still won't try things like deep-fried shrimp or french fries (who wants to own a deep fryer in a condo?) -- but the repertoire is wider than before. I have a lot of sympathy for people who do not know how to cook -- this must have been a difficult 18 months.

The thread is about server shortages in the food or restaurant business. It has been veering off that topic. If you want to discuss sociological, legal, political or economic ramifications/reason in general please find or start an appropriate thread in OMNI.

Thanks!

cblaisd & iluv2fly, Co-Moderators

We've been served! Back to getting or not getting service!

David

We had dinner at the closest Miller�s Ale House tonight. The place was packed, as usual, with no apparent shortage of servers or bartenders. We sat at the bar which afforded a view into a well staffed kitchen.

Contrast that with Home Depot next door. There was a single cashier in the garden center along with three self service check-outs. Many of us were there to buy heavy bags of stone, mulch, dirt and fertilizer. No loading assistance was available. I was one of 6 seniors toting heavy bags from pallet to trunk. No immediate heart attacks observed.

We are going to a robot burger eatery tomorrow. It�s in Westlake mall of Daly City where most other eateries are human-staffed including cheffed. Thankfully they also have chicken tenders and salads (for me). I believe we order on our phones; I just downloaded the app. I cannot believe this is happening.

Danger, danger, Will Robinson!

Is there a robot to complain to when your burger is over cooked?

Just make sure the burger meat is cow-based and you'll be fine.

David

I hope the app provides some tasty hot cluck for your buck.

Ate at Red Lobster for the first time this year. Mid-day lunches during the week are usually like old folks day. Had 3-4 servers working a dozen tables. I rarely eat any of their AYCE deals, but decided to try their $17.99 shrimp special. Their grilled skewers of shrimp were especially good. None were bad at all, I got an order of each of the 4 types. The Coconut shrimp was a bit too sweet for me.

The garden salad I got as my side, was just the right size. For some reason, I really like their salads. The rice under my shrimp skewers was tasteless.

Usually this location has a couple of college students or mid 20’s servers. Other than the hostess, everyone I saw was in their 30’s and 40’s.