JBord

Right, it's never just one thing. People have always left the hospitality industry because of low wages, and have typically been replaced by someone else. Pre-pandemic, I'm sure you could have gone to the same restaurant once a month for a year and each time you would have seen someone new working there. It's always been high turnover. The Amazon phenomenon in a few areas around the country is undeniable though. And it's put many small shops out of business for years. I'm not one of those who thinks Amazon is bad. I think they're taking advantage of the breaks they've been given. But I wonder if it could pay such wages if not given the enormous tax breaks, shipping cost breaks, etc. that the various federal, state, and local governments have provided. It puts small businesses, including restaurants, at a disadvantage when they don't get those same breaks.

But to your point, in areas where an employer (Amazon for example) is offering thousands of unskilled jobs at a higher wage, I would expect that to be a factor. But the $300/week unemployment bonus is also a factor, especially in areas where those jobs aren't available or aren't available in large numbers.

Eastbay1K

Of course Amazon could pay such wages - but you can't fault it for teasing various communities with "we'll bring ecks thousand jobs to your community if you fill our trough with millions of dollars worth of gor-may feed. It just gives Amazon more gilded mud in which to slosh itself.

On a per-hour basis, restaurant workers do alright in this area, but with irregular schedules, almost never completely full time, it can be barely a living.

JBord

Just to be clear, I don't fault Amazon at all. Business owners and individuals should take advantage of every opportunity the government gives them, whether it's a tax break/loophole or whatever. It always makes me laugh when people get angry at the ultra-wealthy for "not paying taxes" (legally) when they should be mad at the government. I'm just pointing out there's a reason why Amazon can afford to pay higher wages and recruit talent from businesses that can't. It's not a fair playing field. Kudos to Amazon for using that to their advantage.

gaobest

And own AMZN to balance this.

YVR Cockroach

Seems the workforce shortage is also effecting the U.K. restaurant industry.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...premium-canada

The CEO of a upscale restaurant chain has this to add:

sethb

Based on a lot of articles I've seen on reddit, one major factor in the undesirability of restaurant employment is the self-selection of the type of people who wanted to eat in restaurants during the pandemic.

YVR Cockroach

Amazon setting minimum wage be default

https://www.businessinsider.com/new-...hortage-2021-5

YVR Cockroach

Opinion piece n the subject

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...-go-back-work/

Until I see restaurant owners (and their families) working 80 hrs a week each, I won't believe workers are not working due to government benefits.

kipper

It's behind a paywall.

As far as owners and families working 80 hours/week, at my local, non-chain restaurants, the owners and their families are always there working. My local diner owner has his 10-12 year-old kids busing tables on weekends. Obviously, the kids are in school during the week for most of the year.

JBord

I can't read this either, but you're using a column with "...pandemic checks aren't the only reason..." ? Bolding mine, as I agree it's not the only reason. I think the $300 per week was a catalyst to not return to what's typically not a very fun job. I doubt many people would argue that restaurant work is a coveted job. It was high turnover before the pandemic, a stepping stone for younger people to pay the bills while they get an education or find the next, better job. The $1200/month on top of UI was a windfall for many. That's kind of the point...if you're getting paid more to not return to a job you don't like, why would you?

In any case, we'll see what happens with the next US jobs report. I believe 23 states have now rescinded the $300 bonus to help employers. Either people will take jobs now or they won't. Not sure when we get the numbers that reflect that as it's just starting now.

Same here, and not just restaurants.

kipper

That's true. Thinking about it, my local kennel owner is usually always there, is the one who returns calls 90% of the time, etc.

JBord

We recently bought a new front door, and every time we were in the small shop, it was either the owner or his teenage son. And that's not new. I grew up in a small town and it was very common in small restaurants, hardware stores, etc. to see the owner, their husband/wife, and kids working there. Often the family members didn't draw a wage, they just helped because they had to in order to make ends meet. Now days, I suspect it's just as much about competing with the large chains since they often can't get the purchasing discounts the large stores get and can't afford to compete with the wages some of the big box stores pay. You can get away with a lot more (including losing money in order to drive out competitors) at larger scale.

YVR Cockroach

Works if you disable scripting.

That is/was usually the case for owner-operated dining establishments. Its the multi-outlet fast food ops that deserve (IMO) less sympathy.

The article mentions that cook shortages was becoming apparent at least in 2015. As far as back of the house goes, it reminds me of the old adage, "if you cant stan the heat, get out of the kitchen". Seems a lot have (an front of the house too). Or are working on their own running food trucks (seems places like brew pubs want a trendy food truck to park in front as it brings in traffic).

On the fast food note, it's been dependent in my neck of the woods, surprisingly, on retiree labour in the past decade. On that note as far as the U.S. labour market is concerned, it seems those bound for tertiary eucation are working in/on things that are more likely to get them into a good school which cuts into the labour pool..

RatherBeOnATrain

The gist of the article is that many workers realized during the pandemic layoff that restaurant work was awful and that there are many ways to stay employed in the food industry without having to be in a restaurant. Here's a very short excerpt:

FLYMSY

To give that story a little more context, the so-called patron was picking up a to-go order and noticed the sign in the window and went on a tirade with Chef Goodenough. The patron said that he would not eat from the this place again and threatened to tell all of his friends & neighbors that the restaurant supported a “Marxist Organization “, while proclaiming that “We are NOT racists!”. In return, Chef raised money to make a donation to a local culinary arts program…. in the name of the offended patron.