Community Chat

[jlkz]

We frequently go out for an afternoon breakfast at 3 of our local restaurants.  They all have switched from 7 days / week to 6.  Their hours changed to 7 AM to 8 PM or 3 PM.

The quality of the food remains the same.  Hiring staff signs are part of the decor now.

Yesterday at one of the 3 restaurants they were short-staffed.  It was " after church crowd " time so they were very busy.  Our waitress, whom we have known for many years, was overwhelmed: she normally works later.

If it could go wrong, it did.  I know this older woman was close to tears the whole time.  When she tried to apologize, we told her to forget about it, we understood totally.  It was okay.  I hope she made it home and could relax.  Of course we overtipped.

It was so sad to see a really experienced great waitress with a smile and sense of humor be reduced to a frazzled, frustrated, apologizing, crazed server.  Next time when I go in, I will try to talk to her about that day and see how she is.

[Luvsmyfam]

@jlkz after reading all posts,boy oh boy ,can I ever relate.ive worked in food and bar industry for 42 yrs,yes same job.i know first hand how hard and frustrating this type of work can be.i try to smile my way thru a disastrous day,and plow ahead.it usually works.

[LindaSal]

I feel the dreaded Covid ordeal was really a wake up call for a lot of  working people.

I waitressed in high school and college and even back then it was no picnic.

I do feel for the ones that are actually working hard and trying to get somewhere in their lives.  We have always been generous tippers but have been ramping it up even more to show appreciation for hard work.   

@CalminHeart You nailed it, I couldn't agree more.

[on the bay]

As a waitress for 7 some years from 15 years old on at various places, I thank all the kind and understanding patrons who graced the doors.

I think this has always been going on, not just now. It has always been "the worst of times, the best of times."

From too many tables and not enough of us, to one table for 4 hours and trying to live on that.

From college towns to exclusive restaurants, I've always found the working environment comes down to how it is managed. Always.

From working in hospitals to teaching at schools to grocery chains to  big business, it is always the principal, the manager, the owner

who can make it "heaven or this could be hell"-thank you Eagles and Hotel California for getting us through many times!

I've heard that in America many work harder, longer, taking over 2 to 3 jobs while yes ceo's earn 6 figures as opposed to minimum wage. It is good that people are deciding, no more. While I feel for small businesses, it is never sustainable to expect employees to work until they drop and just can't or hopefully decide, they just aren't going to do this anymore!

[QVCkitty1]

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@Greeneyedlady21 wrote:

Google the May unemployment rate, it was 3 point something. Sorry to bust your narrative, but there are no more extra benefits being paid. None, and they haven't been paid for a long time now. And at least in my state unemployment has a length limit, and you can't collect if you quit.

Google why people are leaving and not taking service jobs. But don't let the facts get in the way of a good story.

I recently left a job for a better paying job. I work, so I know what the work conditions can be like these days. Freedom exists in the USA to make these choices and to not have to serve people. And you also don't have to worry about some irate complaining customer shooting you. 

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@Greeneyedlady21  Some people ignore the facts when it gets in the way of their political narrative. 

[drizzellla]

I used to work for a restaurant management company in accounting. And every year we would have to work in the kitchen of one of the restaurants. Guess in the kitchen no one could see us if we messed up. They did not want us interacting with the public, just in case we weren't what the company wanted to present to the public.

All I can say is that you work your butt off, especially during lunch and dinner. Not easy. And honestly I have no idea why there are so many restaurants. I can see why it is tough to fill positions.

Sunday we went out to dinner. The waitress was trying her best to keep things moving. Even though there were generally other people that cleared the table after a party left, she was also clearing tables. They had to be short staffed with the cleaning position. I saw tables with dirty dishes for extended periods of time.

Our poor waitress. She was trying to carry all the dirty dishes from the table. And a coffee cup slipped off the tray and shattered at my feet. Which just made things worse. She had to clean up all the shards that were on the tile floor, since there wasn't a "cleaner". She really was getting frazzled. Trying to do two jobs at once.

[Nataliesgramma]

As retired people....we tend to eat in the same few restaurants. We are good tippers and patient....

I am, however, tired of getting cold food and bad service. We know the Servers who have been there for years and see how overworked they are. We also know the Owners who can't get enough help to keep things running like they used to.

Prices have increased alot and I just don't enjoy spending the money for food I don't enjoy anymore.

We get take-out more now because it isn't relaxing to sit and have breakfast or dinner much anymore....

[RespectLife]

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@CalminHeart wrote:

I feel so bad for your server. It wasn't her fault things went so wrong for you and other customers. 

IMO. There isn't a staff shortage. There are 2 problems - lousy wages and lack of respect for employees.  

Respect comes in many ways.  If the manager/owner knew there was just 1 server and left him/her alone on the floor, that's lack of respect for the server and customers.

People are tired of lousy pay and taking cr* p from bosses. So many bosses demand way more than the job description or job require.

People are tired of working for slave wages.

People are tired of seeing the stock gifts, huge salary increases, and outrageous bonuses to CEOs while they struggle to get a puny raise once in a while. 

People are tired of the excessive pressure - emphasis on excessive.

As a senior manager in a corporation, I watched managers call employees names and abuse them in so many ways. It made me sick.

I could tell you so many stories about how salary increases are skewed, employees are targeted, employee abuse, etc that would curl your hair.

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Good heavens, what state or planet do you live on?

that is not the case in Western New York AT ALL>

Wages are WAY up.  We are paying our guys $8-$10 more per hour than the job usually gets JUST to keep them!

Sign on bonuses, full medical, extra perks, company vehicles, gas allowances....and MUCH more.

Everyone is job hopping because they can get MORE money AND more benefits elsewhere.

Companies are luring and stealing employees before the ink is even dry on their applications.

It is a WORKER'S market ....and if you aren't taking advantage of that to better yourself, then you don't have Big Business to blame!

[sunshine 919]

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@ID2 wrote:

Yup get used to it. Just the sign of the times. it wasn't like this until recent. 

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All this started during covid.  People lost their jobs when places closed.  Some people decided to do something else instead of going back to something they had been doing.  I know there is a restaurant here where I waitress told me that people were applying but management decided to close some tables instead of hiring.  People are always saying they are short staffed but there are people who are applying.  It is kind of a catch all phrase now.  

  There is a school here that they say they are always short staffed, when you wait for a kid to pick up early it takes forever.  So I wrote a letter asking them to put out a flyer and that I am sure myself and other stay at home parents would be happy to work part time during school hours to help out.  I told them to let parents help they said they sent my letter to the district and that was the end of the conversation.  Mind you it is only one school that seems to have this issue.  Other schools have student aides helping in the office and taking passes to classrooms.  Anyway just didn't want people to think that there are not people applying at these places.

[sunshine 919]

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@Caaareful Shopper wrote:

The restaurant business has historically been a very difficult business to sustain.  Turnover has always been notorious, but in the past, there seemed to always be a pool of new workers to replace the ones that quit.

My son worked nearly every position in restaurants.  He bussed tables, was a waiter, then went to cooking school coupled with teaching himself how to cook. For 10 years he was a supervising cook, then sous chef for some of the best restaurants in the metro DC region.  

In all those years, there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't come home beat down, to the point of exhaustion.  He did it for so long because at one point he wanted to open his own restaurant.

It's not just  the job you see on the floor, it's the mental and physical stress that goes on in the kitchen and after work.  On any given day, you're expected to do your job, the job of the ones that didn't come in or quit that morning, clean up after the restaurant closes, clean the restrooms, deal with patrons that are mean and nasty, getting yelled at by managers or head chefs for things that are usually not their fault, having to put tips into a tip pool, etc.  I haven't even listed the things that go on strictly in the kitchen.

My 30-year old son lost his job in the pandemic, but it was a blessing in disguise.  He had the knees and back of a 65 year old man from standing 10 hours a day, usually 6 days a week all those years.

He moved back to NYC (he was born there), and got a fantastic job in a totally different industry.  He's never been happier, and has control over his future, and is making twice his salary just two years later. He will never in a million years go back to a restaurant job. 

So if you think you know why there's restaurant worker exodus, you should probably talk to someone who lived it for years, not what's being talked about elsewhere.  

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Thank you so much for your insight.  Cngratulations to your son for finding something better.