Are all Restaurants Understaffed now (2021)?

[hornian 5222]

No CR please. 

My wife and I have been venturing out more these days; and long waits, slow service, etc. seems to be the norm. The places themselves don’t seem overly packed; it just seems like they don’t have enough staff to run at 100% pre pandemic levels when it comes to in person dining.

Now that more folks (myself included) are fully vaxxed and willing to eat in public again; has the demand outstripped the labor pool? (I see A LOT of help wanted signs at restaurants these days).

Or has the volume of curbside/to go orders just swamped kitchens and put in person diners behind the curve?

Or am I just not remembering what it’s like to eat inside since we didn’t for so long?

Edited May 9, 2021 by hornian

[Deej 76859]

Understaffed for the increasing demand for in-person dining would be my guess. 

[South Austin 52523]

I don’t blame restaurants one bit. Margins are so thin to begin with, so I understand the hesitancy to increase overhead to pre-COVID levels before they figure out when their customers will be back in full force. Cut them some slack.

[Guest]

when you pay people not to work, what the fuck do you think is going to happen?

 

I don't blame restaurants at all.  I don't blame the workers either.

Edited May 9, 2021 by slorch

[Dr Fear 1268]

I don’t blame restaurants one bit. Margins are so thin to begin with, so I understand the hesitancy to increase overhead to pre-COVID levels before they figure out when their customers will be back in full force. Cut them some slack.

I believe servers still make half minimum wage hourly plus tips, so overhead is not an issue with them.

No CR, but some have argued that the expanded unemployment benefits have resulted in people staying home instead of trying to find a job.

[ztejas 43524]

If you're talking about living in Austin - service here has been shitty my entire life. Maybe it's gotten a little better the past few years but I just kind of expect it most places. 

[Enchubben 5510]

Combination of several of the things above. I think the increased demand after a lack of in person dining for so long is a huge culprit though. 

[Gale Snoats 242]

Have family who are in high end restaurant space and own/operate 15 to 20 spots and they’re getting killed on labor - many from pre are Mia and can’t find new folks now. Killing them.

[Hook1997 5397]

The people that work at the restaurants I’ve been to have all said they can’t find employees, the ones working are doing doubles almost every day.  

[staboner 4984]

slorched!

 

[Bill Brasky 1449]

Everywhere is understaffed.   I know of a local restaurant that had to close all weekend due to not having any cooks after the last 2 they had followed their GM to another location.    We have multiple job openings at our office with zero applicants so far.  

[4th&Five 41571]

We’ve started to venture out the last few weeks and have had surprisingly great service (for Austin) each time. Even at Chuy’s. I know our luck will end but it has surprised us after hearing about staffing issues. We’re also just pumped to be eating out so will put up with some waiting. 

[Francisco 2.0 32395]

Went to a local Italian place for their Mother's Day Brunch; first time we've been there since early 2020.

In the past, they had outstanding service.  Today, walked up to the counter at the reservation time, gave them our name.....and crickets.  

Took around 15 minutes to get seated, and once we did, maybe another 10 minutes before the waitress came to our table to greet us and ask for drink choices.

It wasn't a problem; as we know places are understaffed.....but this was a A/B comparison for a known establishment that has been in business for around 50 years, and prides itself on their food (which was great as always) and service.  If they can't get help, then no one else can either.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Francisco 2.0

[Hagbard Celine 10897]

The simple solution for those getting killed on labor is to pay a guaranteed salary with bonuses on sales performance, with a posted no-tip policy and food prices that reflect cost+.

This is actually an industry with real competition where the "market" will pick the winners.

[Dr Fear 1268]

The simple solution for those getting killed on labor is to pay a guaranteed salary with bonuses on sales performance, with a posted no-tip policy and food prices that reflect cost+.
This is actually an industry with real competition where the "market" will pick the winners.

Then why does virtually no one in the US do this if it is so simple?

[achooloco 1072]

17 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

The simple solution for those getting killed on labor is to pay a guaranteed salary with bonuses on sales performance, with a posted no-tip policy and food prices that reflect cost+.

This is actually an industry with real competition where the "market" will pick the winners.

Not against that (in fact for it) and Restaurants do have it tough, I get that for all the reasons above. But went to the bar next door back in March bc of March madness (no bball, fuck Shaka) and figured I’d help support local business while getting out for a bit. 

Ordered wings and a beer, and Diet Coke just after the wings arrived. Was about $31 before tip; 7beer (fine, that’s just nyc), 2ish coke (fine, that’s just restaurant prices anywhere), but wings were $18 for 8. Fuck me! Pre-pandemic easily 12ish, maybe 15 on the rare chance but 18?! I get they need to make rent but it felt like they were doubling or tripling prices across the board for the entrees. I don’t Hate them for it but won’t really go back either. Rather spend at other places until things calm down. In fact we have stayed away from eating out bc some places have insane prices. 

it’s one thing to pass along price increases from market forces but for this normal ass bar it felt like they were hiking the prices in order to make up for all the months of lost revenue. I get it, it sucked for y’all, sucked for me too, but don’t think that I as the customer should suffer it all now either. 

[tx 3 putt 77237]

I'd be pretty good ordering all drinks / apps / food off an app. Went to Truluck's last night with a date, sat at the bar. The service was horrible and slow. the bar area wasn't that busy due to spacing. i had to ask if they entered our salad order as it never showed up 

Edited May 10, 2021 by tx 3 putt

[Surly Bevo 25090]

13 minutes ago, achooloco said:

Not against that (in fact for it) and Restaurants do have it tough, I get that for all the reasons above. But went to the bar next door back in March bc of March madness (no bball, fuck Shaka) and figured I’d help support local business while getting out for a bit. 

Ordered wings and a beer, and Diet Coke just after the wings arrived. Was about $31 before tip; 7beer (fine, that’s just nyc), 2ish coke (fine, that’s just restaurant prices anywhere), but wings were $18 for 8. Fuck me! Pre-pandemic easily 12ish, maybe 15 on the rare chance but 18?! I get they need to make rent but it felt like they were doubling or tripling prices across the board for the entrees. I don’t Hate them for it but won’t really go back either. Rather spend at other places until things calm down. In fact we have stayed away from eating out bc some places have insane prices. 

it’s one thing to pass along price increases from market forces but for this normal ass bar it felt like they were hiking the prices in order to make up for all the months of lost revenue. I get it, it sucked for y’all, sucked for me too, but don’t think that I as the customer should suffer it all now either. 

There's a chicken wing shortage brah

https://www.vox.com/22421095/chicken-wings-shortage-delivery-bar

[achooloco 1072]

29 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

There's a chicken wing shortage brah

https://www.vox.com/22421095/chicken-wings-shortage-delivery-bar

Well fuck me, didn’t know that was going on in March. Shit, guess I will go back and give it another try. Thanks for link 

[Murfdogg21 4413]

This thread is like saying “No offense, but...”

“No CR, but why are so many service industry employees not coming back to work?”

[HornOnTheBayou 8942]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

when you pay people not to work, what the fuck do you think is going to happen?

 

I don't blame restaurants at all.  I don't blame the workers either.

Who is getting paid not to work? Please tell me, because I would like to get in on that. Of course, you're not talking about the two small stimulus payments that barely covered rent for a month, right? 

[Js1 85449]

2 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Who is getting paid not to work? Please tell me, because I would like to get in on that. Of course, you're not talking about the two small stimulus payments that barely covered rent for a month, right? 

He’s talking about the enhanced UI benefits ($300/week).  The new talking point du jour of many. That’s all I’m gonna say about that. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Js1

[Brew 3049]

2 hours ago, staboner said:

slorched!

 

It’s not slorched and it’s not CR, it is a piece of the problem in some cases. People are hard to come by for a multitude of reasons some of which relate to what they are currently getting from the government between unemployment benefits and stimulus payments. Increased hiring demands in other industries are also part of it which is why you see SC/WY cutting off federal unemployment with sub 5% unemployment and labor shortages in their states.

Spend any time with someone that owns a restaurant and they will tell you the same thing. Between food price increases, availability of product, and availability of people a lot are having to run limited hours right now. I have several that only open 3-4 days a week now because they can’t staff the rest of the week. Demand is up enough they are doing fine on that schedule, so I’m not sure how many will go back to the old schedule.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Brew

[Royalfan5 2354]

While I’ve never worked in food service, everyone seems to indicate that doing so fucking sucks with shitty hours and schedules, and that management is often pretty shady regarding tips and other employment laws. Then you add in a declining cohort of younger workers. (I believe nationally school enrollment is to drop in aggregate through 2030 or so) so the labor pool that the industry relies is getting shallower on top of that. Then you can add in other opportunities that your labor force sees as better be it door dashing or working in an Amazon warehouse(slightly better pay, defined hours, less assholes deciding your pay on whims, less drawbacks overall) and you can’t be really surprised that labor is getting tighter. It’s like when people bemoan the lost of small dairy farms without ever acknowledging that being a small dairy owner sucks because you work your ass off and wreck your body for limited payoff.

[4th&Five 41571]

In a city like Austin where the average home price is creeping towards 600k I’m not sure where someone that works in food service can afford to live. If you have to live in Georgetown or Belton to find a place you can afford to live I’m not sure why you’d drive to Austin to wait tables. 

[bluto 4934]

Austin service has always generally sucked, no doubt.

Have to wonder too how many college students bother doing the food service bs to get by between student loan abundance and the real world pressure/competition of internship type work. No clue if that’s actually a thing but I’d be surprised if UT students are as commonplace in service industry as they were even 10-15 yrs ago.

[tx 3 putt 77237]

1 hour ago, Murfdogg21 said:

This thread is like saying “No offense, but...”

“No CR, but why are so many service industry employees not coming back to work?”

 

'I have A black friend, but let me tell you ....'

[tx 3 putt 77237]

3 hours ago, slorch said:

when you pay people not to work, what the fuck do you think is going to happen?

 

I don't blame restaurants at all.  I don't blame the workers either.

 

those benefits run out after 6 months in Texas

[Blotto 23560]

There's dozens of articles on this topic, and yes many owners cite enhanced government benefits as one of several contributing factors. And in areas with a high cost of living, many workers simply moved away when it became clear this was gonna drag on for awhile. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/dining/restaurant-worker-shortage.html

 

 

 

[Blotto 23560]

7 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

those benefits run out after 6 months in Texas

https://www.twc.texas.gov/files/twc/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-texas-twc.pdf

[Enchubben 5510]

4 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

those benefits run out after 6 months in Texas

The TX ones do but not the increased federal programs. Those are set to expire around Labor Day though. 

There is some truth to this, especially if you hit the right profile and get the TX max plus federal, but the impact is overblown. I think service industry folks have just moved on to other gigs.

[Brisketexan 105180]

The TX ones do but not the increased federal programs. Those are set to expire around Labor Day though. 
There is some truth to this, especially if you hit the right profile and get the TX max plus federal, but the impact is overblown. I think service industry folks have just moved on to other gigs.

This. It’s surely a complex mix of factors....but the biggest one is most likely that: workers moved on, and it will take time to re-staff. Huge slices of the economy don’t just turn on a dime.

We’re seeing similar things happen (for different mixes of reasons) in the lumber market, the chip industry, even in the floral industry.

[tx 3 putt 77237]

33 minutes ago, Enchubben said:

I think service industry folks have just moved on to other gigs.

 

this right here. they were forced to find other jobs and quickly realized a 'real' job isnt that bad 

[Hook1997 5397]

1 hour ago, Enchubben said:

The TX ones do but not the increased federal programs. Those are set to expire around Labor Day though. 

There is some truth to this, especially if you hit the right profile and get the TX max plus federal, but the impact is overblown. I think service industry folks have just moved on to other gigs.

@tx 3 putt
 

Not really true at all.  Texas companies still pay waiters and bartenders $2.13 a hour only and not Minimum wage.    Texas benefits do not run out for waiters or bartenders in six months with covid as most of their money earned is in tips and not pay from the company they work for, therefore they are consider independent contractors and it was extended for their Texas benefits also.  There in lies the issue with why people are having a issue finding employees, unemployed waiters are making the federal bonus plus their state portion still until August.   So yes the reason is most are making the same if not more then they did while working.  

Edited May 10, 2021 by Hook1997

[Born to Run 6569]

 
those benefits run out after 6 months in Texas

But that's long enough to be set up as a queen for life...

[Brew 3049]

6 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

@tx 3 putt
 

Not really true at all.  Texas companies still pay waiters and bartenders $2.13 a hour only and not Minimum wage.    Texas benefits do not run out for waiters or bartenders in six months with covid as most of their money earned is in tips and not pay from the company they work for, therefore they are consider independent contractors and it was extended for their Texas benefits also.  There in lies the issue with why people are having a issue finding employees, unemployed waiters are making the federal bonus plus their state portion still until August.   So yes the reason is most are making the same if not more then they did while working.  

They are not independent contractors. Tip income is reported through a W-2 and part of your unemployment earnings just like your base pay. If you work for a place that isn’t handling it correctly, you could pick it up like 1099 income I suppose but most are handling it more correctly than not at this point. They have to guarantee a minimum wage, so they have to at a minimum be reporting some tip income.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, staboner said:

slorched!

 

when bullshit economic policies hit reality, it's really all you have to come back with, eh?

 

Got dammit...this shit sounded so good in the pressers... why it not working?

[Aqua Buddha 14599]

9 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

This. It’s surely a complex mix of factors....but the biggest one is most likely that: workers moved on, and it will take time to re-staff. Huge slices of the economy don’t just turn on a dime.

We’re seeing similar things happen (for different mixes of reasons) in the lumber market, the chip industry, even in the floral industry.

This is the most underrated angle to the restaurant, service, and hospitality industries.  Over the last 12 months, a lot of them simply found different jobs if their work was shut down or impacted.  The unemployment benefits are a factor but so are things like schools and day care availability.  

[Aqua Buddha 14599]

1 hour ago, slorch said:

when bullshit economic policies hit reality, it's really all you have to come back with, eh?

 

Got dammit...this shit sounded so good in the pressers... why it not working?

Roughly the same amount of people are working now as were working last summer.  The biggest change is now we have more jobs.  I personally want to thank Joseph Robinette Biden Jr for creating all these new jobs. 

[immamac 42877]

5 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

This is the most underrated angle to the restaurant, service, and hospitality industries.  Over the last 12 months, a lot of them simply found different jobs if their work was shut down or impacted.  The unemployment benefits are a factor but so are things like schools and day care availability.  

Same reason why Uber/Lyft drivers aren't coming back. They all found actual work. 

[ChickenSandwich 9844]

Independent restaurants run on string budgets as it is. Their perishable inventory is susceptible to many factors that cause them to only generate income during their small windows of customers. It’s easy to disrupt these windows. 
 

Deep freeze? Toss the food

Flood? Toss the food

Power out? Toss the food. 
 
The basic traditional structure is 1/3 food, 1/3 bills, 1/3 profit. The last third is incredibly elusive for many independent restaurants. 
 

May just need to live with a major retraction of restaurants or a major increase in price for eating out. There is no room in the current structure to drastically increase labor costs, and few owners are living lavishly off the backs of their underpaid servers. 

[ChickenSandwich 9844]

Let’s also mention many serves prefer the tips to an hourly wage. Besides under reporting to the IRS, they can make large sums of money in small amounts of time. Flexibility and fewer hours are benefit for many servers, especially the young ones. 
 

It’s been tried before, but obviously in different times. (But this is an area that can most handle higher cost per plate vs the rest of America). 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/dining/danny-meyer-no-tips.amp.html%3f0p19G=6214

some outside the box solutions will be needed other than just “pay more!”  Things like removing the sales tax burden for food service, that money could instead go directly to the employees or some sort of fund to pay for services for industry workers. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[Js1 85449]

They can work at Bucees for wages in the mid-teens, health care and vacation. 

It’s the employers, not the workers. We as a country are so quick to blame workers and not greedy employers, many of whom made huge profits in 2020 with reduced headcounts and just doing to-go 

[WBT 20643]

So your take is that 2020 was good for restaurant owners?  I'm not sure I agree.

 

[Js1 85449]

5 minutes ago, WBT said:

So your take is that 2020 was good for restaurant owners?  I'm not sure I agree.

 

Did I say all? No.

Fast casual places like chipotle had record profits and can’t find people to work for their shitty wages and shittier benefits, while removing things like paid breaks

The pandemic forced people to realize there are jobs out there that are willing to treat them like humans and not slaves who have to bring Karen three sides of ranch and not two or they won’t get tipped. 

Employment in hospitality and leisure actually rose last month. Businesses have to adapt and others who don’t will lose. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Js1

[Aqua Buddha 14599]

24 minutes ago, Js1 said:

They can work at Bucees for wages in the mid-teens, health care and vacation. 

It’s the employers, not the workers. We as a country are so quick to blame workers and not greedy employers, many of whom made huge profits in 2020 with reduced headcounts and just doing to-go 

Saw a story of some manufacturing plant that had plenty of openings and few applicants.  Deep into the story, it was revealed their starting salary was $12.50 per hour.  

The tiny violin is not playing for them.

[Spaulding Smails 1555]

Just as "temporary taxes" like passing a bond never seem to return to their previous levels, I'm afraid we're going to see the same thing with restaurant prices.  And, I completely agree that restaurants are grossly understaffed right now for all the above mentioned reasons.  My son had a baseball tourney this weekend, so dinner plans for Mothers Day were up in the air.  If he lost early, he and I were going to cook something for the family at home.  If they kept winning, he and I would grab fast food and my wife and other two would fend for themselves.  They won the first, then lost the second, so we decided to call in a to-go order.  We called three local restaurants multiple times and nobody picked up.  Finally got the fourth restaurant to answer.  When we got there, they had us come in rather than have curbside because they were short-staffed.  I don't mind walking in at all, but it was just a curious observation of the shortage for labor in that industry.

[ChickenSandwich 9844]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Did I say all? No.

Fast casual places like chipotle had record profits and can’t find people to work for their shitty wages and shittier benefits, while removing things like paid breaks

The pandemic forced people to realize there are jobs out there that are willing to treat them like humans and not slaves who have to bring Karen three sides of ranch and not two or they won’t get tipped. 

Employment in hospitality and leisure actually rose last month. Businesses have to adapt and others who don’t will lose. 

corporations seemed to do better than independents....

They will thrive with reduced competition as independent restaurants are no longer viable in current form.

just going to be way more of these

and these

 

[4th&Five 41571]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

They can work at Bucees for wages in the mid-teens, health care and vacation. 

It’s the employers, not the workers. We as a country are so quick to blame workers and not greedy employers, many of whom made huge profits in 2020 with reduced headcounts and just doing to-go 

KXAN did a story on this last week and interviewed the Docs owner crying about not being able to find or keep people but they never said what the pay was. Just googled their ad and he's offering a whopping $2.13+tips.

[Fud 9552]

In Houston I've noticed some earlier closings than in the past, but haven't noticed the actual service suffering anywhere. It does seem like there are fewer uber-eats couriers around though, leading to some options being unavailable