Was the Cure Worse Than the Illness?
Posted by estiator at 7 May, at 04 : 20 AM Print
MANAGING FOR SUCCESS By CONSTANTINE N. KOLITSAS Business Coach
When the story of COVID-19 is told by some historian in the not-so-distant future, there will surely be lots of Monday-morning quarterbacking going on. And if the question posed in this column’s title could be construed literally, the metaphorical question also bears some consideration as it applies to the economic cures implemented by both administrations that have saddled this unique point in time.
As this issue goes to press, restaurants throughout the country are coming back to life. Red states and blue states alike are finding guests returning to dine indoors, while outdoor dining and takeout continue to be bright spots borne from the industry’s darkest moments. But even with guests coming in, there is a dearth of employees returning to their former positions in kitchens and in the front of the house.
Of course, a significant number of individuals have opted to stay home and collect unemployment rather than return to work. Even with the lower $300 per week added benefit (from the unconscionably high $600 at the onset of the crisis), many restaurant workers are finding it more lucrative to sit out what are hopefully the last days of the pandemic at home, collecting money for nothing, as the song says. But the issue goes deeper than this. As the benefits will certainly expire at some point, restaurateurs are discovering a new sobering fact: many people are making a permanent exit from the industry.
For sure, the restaurant business has always had a significant number of transients—people working in restaurants, diners, cafes, and bars until they find “a real job.” But their traditional exodus has been exacerbated as industries that saw a COVID windfall have attracted people away from restaurant jobs. Groceries, liquor stores, shipping, fulfillment, and other boom businesses have gobbled up low-wage workers. Even immigrant labor, long the backbone of the industry, is hard to come by, with landscapers offering twice the hourly wage of most restaurant jobs, at least in the northeast. At the same time, people with skills and education have found new opportunities as a number of industries go on hiring binges. Direct-to-consumer e-platforms, healthcare, computer support, and the trades are all aggressively hiring, siphoning off longtime restaurant workers along with potential restaurant job applicants.
Even with more and more guests coming in, there is a dearth of employees returning to their former positions in kitchens and in the front of the house.
And then there’s the fear factor: A sizable portion of the restaurant workforce has sat out the pandemic for fear of catching COVID-19. For those who panic easily, it’s understandable where the concerns lie. Restaurants are one of the few places where people congregate sans masks. (Yes, they enter and exit wearing masks, but even in the northeast, almost no one wears the mask once they are seated.)
Now add into the mix the fact that prior to the pandemic, the industry was already experiencing a labor crunch with the creation of new restaurant jobs far outpacing the available labor pool. Demand for back-of-the-house workers, in particular, was outpacing applicants by 6% for the last five years, with no signs of slowing. And four years of draconian immigration policies slammed the door shut on the industry’s most reliable entry-level portal.
For me, the best way to gut check what’s happening in my own restaurant against what’s happening around me has always been to talk to my salespeople. And to a man, I’m hearing the same thing: Restaurant operators are all finding it extremely difficult to fill spots across the entire operation. From line cooks to dishwashers; from counter people to delivery drivers; from servers to bartenders, the story is the same. There are openings, openings, openings, and not many applicants to fill those openings.
Back when I was managing chain restaurants, we were always told to keep hiring and use new hires to replace the poorest performing staff members as a way to constantly upgrade our staff. I miss those days. Now it’s hard to let go of the worst employees because there are so few people to take those positions.
At this point, regular readers of this column usually anticipate finding a solution (or at the least a recommendation) to the problems posited. No such luck here, I’m afraid. In fact, if you can figure it out, please drop me a line!
Constantine Kolitsas is the president of CNK Consulting, a restaurant consultant and coaching business. He can be reached at 203-947-6234 or at ckolitsas@gmail.com.
