Whenever I quick read the thread's title I read it as sewage shortage. :p

me too!

I'm sure many in the "lower rungs" of the restaurant/service industry have found ways to survive and thrive during the pandemic and are now giving a collective middle finger to their former jobs/bosses.

Several of my favorite servers have moved onto different things.

One was one month from finishing his MBA anyways, and is now working using his degree.
Another left to go work in nursing homes.
Another went to sell cars.

Basically, without the certainty of when things would return to normal, they found other options that at the very least didn't involve being as harassed as they were when serving. Many are still picking up an occasional shift here and there, for some extra money. But they no longer rely on it to live on.

Do you believe this was different than before the pandemic? I suppose it depends on the area, but most servers I've known or talked to didn't view it as a career. It was a flexible job to help support them while they were working on something else. One of my friends was a server for several years in her late 20's and she's now an obstetrician. It helped her get through med school. Most of my favorite bars and restaurants in Chicago had 20-somethings working there and there would be new people there every 6-12 months. The pandemic may have hastened plans and helped them move to the next phase of their life. But that doesn't explain why there is no demand for those jobs now among people entering the workforce for the first time. The server shortage is not about turnover, that's always been incredibly high. In 2019, the restaurant industry turnover rate was 75%. The problem is there is no new inflow.

In some cases, it was natural turnover. In the others, yes they looked at the restaurant industry as their careers and last year just totally changed how they looked at it.

I do believe the turnover among car salespeople is higher. I predict your friend will be back to waiting tables (or move on to something else).

I agree with you, I think last year was a catalyst for restaurant workers to make the change they would have made eventually anyway.
Something that's always bothered me about this thread is that it's only about servers. There are all kinds of employers that are having a hard time hiring for entry level jobs. So it's too simplistic to say restaurants treat employees poorly and therefore there's a server shortage.

Other than the $1200/month government stipend, the other variable that changed was that the server job was, for all practical purposes, eliminated by various state governments off and on for over a year. Other businesses were affected too (theaters, event centers, etc.), but none that affected as many jobs as the restaurant industry.

Anecdotally, something I've started to hear around my area (where many vaccinated people are still wearing masks while walking outside alone even though it's not required), is that many parents aren't allowing their teenagers to work because they're still concerned about COVID. These kids likely aren't even collecting the unemployment stipend, so that's not the motivation. But they make up a pretty large percentage of the candidate field for chain and fast food restaurants.

However, are the parents letting/taking their teens go to such restaurants anyway as customers?

David

Yes, but how would we have any way of knowing if it's the same dataset?
Besides, the one thing that stands out from the past 18 months is the inconsistency with which people apply rules (government or their own) to their personal lives. So yes, it's likely that some people allow their teens to visit restaurants, unmasked, but not work at them.

visiting a restaurant for 2 hours, maybe only 1-2 times a week, is significantly less than working at one for 4-8 hours a day, 2-5 days a week. Plus sitting at a table versus moving throughout the restaurant…

But the workers can mask up. When restaurants opened indoor dining here, workers had to mask 100% of the time.
Meanwhile, our school district was open full time since the start of 2021, so teenagers were wearing masks and moving around the school for 8 hours a day anyway. I understand there are more controls in place in a school where the patrons are the same every day vs. a restaurant, but it's still not very logical. It's possible it's just as much the kids using COVID to their advantage to convince their parents that it's not safe for them to work, and instead draw a big allowance.

Bingo.

David

Despite the state of Florida being pretty much wide open, I continue to be surprised at all the restaurant workers I see wearing masks. I have to assume they’ve been demanded by the restaurants and wonder if that isn’t part of the straw that breaks the camel’s back. There are better crappy jobs perhaps that don’t make you wear the mask all shift. I know I chafe every time I put one on now (church and doctors appointments) and can’t wait to yank the thing off.

Yes, it is possible. I don't expect that this represents that grand a percentage of the missing worker pool. Pre-COVID, teens had already been shunning this sort of work, especially in fast food, and seniors have been replacing this (which is a sad commentary, probably well-suited for a /PR discussion). Meanwhile, for several years, I've been saying that the restaurant model as we know it (at least in the SF Bay Area) is not an economically viable model in the long term. The past 15 months have only served to concentrate the days of reckoning.

I could see that being a factor. We flew for the first time in over a year in May. Had to wear the mask 8-9 hours total each way, including airport and transport. It was absolutely miserable.

I don't know what percentage it might be. Like I said, my comment on teens was based on anecdotal evidence. I was actually surprised because nearly all of the server jobs I see around here, fast food or not, are still staffed by teens or 20-somethings. I rarely see seniors. In fact, I can't think of anywhere I've been in months where I've seen this. Maybe that's the problem, seniors aren't returning to restaurant work?

Your comment "at least in the SF Bay Area" is important. I have a feeling that's much different than around here, the Chicago suburbs. And the suburbs are much different than Chicago itself.

My big prediction for today is that this time next year the server shortage won't be an issue any more. As the pandemic wanes, the federal stipend ends, and the best jobs get snatched up, people will go back to these jobs.

Gotta say that the Big A Root Beer in grass valley CA was staffed by amusing teenagers on Thursday evening. Great staffing.

I would think it's more likely the servers deciding they don't want to catch COVID.

They've had 6-7 weeks to get vaccinated. AFAIK, that’s more effective than a mask.

in CA, restaurant workers were still required to mask after 6/15, the day masks weren’t required for consumers.
on 6/17, CA OSHA members voted to eschew masks.
it is still possible for individual retail businesses to require masks - hopefully it’ll be posted clearly at the door with relevant date (eg “AFTER 6/15/21…” because it’ll be too easy for a consumer to think that it’s an old mask sign :-)

We've only found one store around here so far still requiring masks of everyone. Generally, we live in an area where people were overly cautious with COVID, so I haven't been in a store yet where at least 50% of customers aren't wearing masks. More often I'd say about 75% of customers still wear them. But interestingly, it's been just the opposite with employees. When I go to the grocery store, Target, Home Depot, restaurants, etc. I see about 90% of employees unmasked. So perhaps there is something to the hypothesis that the people not working are still worried about COVID.

And to your point about the mask signs, it is a little confusing now. I ignored them for a year because I knew a mask was required. Now, every time I go to a store for the first time (since unmasking) I carry a mask in my pocket and have to read the sign to know if I must wear it or not. One store, can't remember, had no sign at all. I took a chance and walked in sans mask and saw others mask-less too.

And both together are even more effective.

agreed although we can also argue for sheltering or other methods that are effective against the coronavirus. I fully support vaccinated people’s choices to eschew the mask since that’s my own personal preference.

I'm no virologist, but my logical nature has me thinking that when we have time to look back on this and study it properly, we'll find that social distancing and sheltering (although it came with many negative effects) were far more effective than masks. Certainly masks do something, and we were all doing anything we could last year, even if it provided just a bit more safety. I don't want to debate it with anyone, because it's totally a guess. But it won't surprise me if cloth masks end up at the very bottom of the list in terms of effectiveness. The N95's are of course a different matter.

Likewise.

In my view, it should have always been left to the individual and that of private businesses. Personally, since masks aren't a big sacrifice for me, I'll put it on, at least for the next several months, if it'll make some people who work in stores/restaurants feel better or safer.

IMHO:
2nd from the very bottom - bandanas
Very bottom - gaiters

I ran into this for my first time yesterday. My fiancé and I went to the Olive Garden in Brier Creek in Raleigh. When we arrived at least 75% of the tables were empty. However, due to short staffing we were quoted an hour and a half wait. Thankfully we were able to sit at the bar but some people who were waiting when we arrived were still waiting when we left.

And it's even more effective if we all shelter in our houses forever and keep our blinds closed which is what I am planning on doing..... just to be sure.

yikes. Omg. Yikes. I don’t think it’s worth it for any place. Ugh.

Well, I meant face coverings in general as a defense mechanism against viral spread, but yes even different levels of effectiveness among them - again with the exception of the N95's. The ones you mention are typically single layer, which is the least effective. But in reality, all of the cloth coverings become germ farms because people are constantly pulling them up and down and not washing them after each use.

Back on topic, I saw the post about server shortage at an Olive Garden. For all the discussion here, I haven't personally experienced it, only heard stories. We're only going to restaurants about once a week these days though.

Moderator's gentle reminder
 

I thought about posting this in the vent thread but I suspect this is just as appropriate.

As I’ve posted elsewhere, I don’t eat fast food. But Mrs BamaVol does and I usually indulge her on road trips. She craves a filet-o-fish, small chocolate shake with no whipped cream and a Diet Coke from McDonalds. We had a 5 hour drive Friday on our way to Panama City Beach. I stopped at the first McD’s and spotted construction equipment in the parking lot. Sure enough, the dining room was closed (no sign of interior construction) and the drive thru had a line of 20+ vehicles. I bailed and stopped at the next, 30 minutes further. I parked and tried the door. No entry. Drive thru only. 20+ cars, so no way Jose. The dining room was open at the 3rd but there was absolute chaos inside. So I used the restroom and then got behind 5 cars in the drive thru and waited 20 minutes for food.

Possible causes? I blamed the “server shortage”. Construction may have played a role at the first. The “pay it ahead” game may have caused the slow down at the ultimate restaurant. No obvious explanation at the middle stop. I haven’t seen locked doors at a fast food restaurant since the height of the pandemic when you just considered yourself lucky to find an open restaurant with a drive thru operating.

do any of these places offer online order-ahead type service? That could also help? It could also explain why the servers (staffers) are so busy.

Two points:
- I skimmed an article the other day about how McDonald's is considering installing more automated ordering - something about how they are testing robotic drive through ordering in 10 Chicago stores. It was due to the labor shortage -- this thread is "server shortage" but the reality is that it's a labor shortage that affects all kinds of jobs, including McDonald's that doesn't have servers. So your instinct is probably right.
- The construction thing baffles me. I'm sure quite a few places used the shutdown to do work, which is smart. Why some aren't done yet is what baffles me. There are at least 2 places near me that are still doing takeout only and saying they're still doing construction. I know, personally, it's been a nightmare hiring contractors to do anything. We've had several give us quotes and then never speak to us again. I've been going back and forth with a mason to do some repair work for two months now and can't get a date on the calendar. But I wouldn't have expected it to impact businesses...I assumed that's why they couldn't do my smaller jobs.

They are still locked at all the FF chains pretty much everywhere in CA. Drive through lines are very long.

Is this full-on labor shortage? Or some CA mandate? Or something else?
I had no idea until you posted this, not something we've heard about 1600 miles away.

Thats fine if it’s the restaurant 1/2 mile from your home. Order and it’s ready when you get there. Not so much when you’re on the interstate and don’t know what’s available until you see the sign at the exit and then have to figure out where you are. And then you still have to get into the drive thru lane to pick your food up.

We have tried to get someone to do a remodel project for us this year. Prices are sky high and lead times were typically 6-12 weeks. Then after you have 3 quotes, select a contractor and make a couple small changes, the price goes up thousands because lumber prices and flooring prices continue to escalate. We’ve put it off for the remainder of this year. I’ll keep that much in the bank until the next recession eliminates the lead times and drops the prices (I hope).

We've done the same with a carpentry project. I got a fair quote for the masonry, but it's still frustrating that they won't follow up on it. I was actually planning on building a couple raised garden beds this year for herbs and chiles. I estimated each would cost nearly $200 when I priced the lumber. They should have cost about $50 each. No thanks. Bought one large piece of plywood, painted it with some leftover grey paint and put it on cement blocks - plastic planters on top :). One year solution until prices go back down!

So the reason I brought up the whole restaurant re-modeling issue, is I wonder if some of them are using that as an excuse for not re-opening because they can't hire staff. Or, because they can't hire staff, they decided to remodel or take their time.

Possibly true, but the second location had no posted or visible excuse. The 20 minute wait behind 5 cars I also tentatively attributed to new/ light staffing. But I really have no idea. I just know that fast food no longer is.

Most fast food places offer the ability to order through an app, but they won't prepare your food until you arrive and tell them you are there if you select curbside or carryout. If you opt for drive-thru, they won't prepare your food until you tell them you've arrived at the drive-thru speaker.

Sadly, I know this because a certain dog has decided that he will only eat chicken nuggets and Arby's roast beef sandwiches.