Too Little, Too Late?-The National Restaurant Staffing Shortage
The global pandemic has proved itself to be nonlinear without a clear direction or targeted approach. Our research project, Voices from Washtenaw, began with intentions of capturing socioeconomic changes experienced by front line service workers, more specifically, the restaurant industry perspective. The research’s inception began during the pre-vaccination era and has since analyzed many pivotal shifts such as the eviction crisis, the emergence of vaccines, and evolving Covid-19 protocol mandates.
As the nation begins to regain its’ footing and assess the damages caused by Covid-19, the Service Industry has been left bleeding with a pervasive staffing shortage. Restaurant managers across the nation are devising elaborate hiring tactics like signing bonuses, tuition coverage, and increase of pay to increase recruitment and retainment rates for wait staff. While restaurant managers and customers endure the inconveniences of national staffing shortages, servers are beginning to view this phenomenon as a paradigm shift to ensure livable wages and equitable treatment for the Service Industry laborers.
During the heat of the pandemic, restaurants were suffering huge revenue losses and began cutting back in supplies, menu options, and labor to maintain the business. Surprisingly, the national unemployment rate has decreased by a 0.2 percentage point to 4.6% in the last two months, however, the restaurant industry unemployment rate has sky-rocketed to 7.5%. This paradox is not due to the lack of jobs available, but rather the sheer resistance to service industry job openings. The question must be asked: Is it too little or too late to change the restaurant service industry conditions?
Reflecting back to the pre-vaccination era of Covid, restaurants created a susceptible and dangerous environment as wait staff were expected to service tables while customers went unmasked. The restaurant workers maintained long work hours, endured unruly guests, accrued few opportunities to take time off, and encountered daily in-person contact during a global pandemic. Not to mention, if a server was non-compliant with the expectations set by management, the repercussions of immediate dismissal loomed in the near distance.
Besides the external environment, the financial incentive of labor did not generate a viably sustainable wage. Throughout the pandemic, a vicious cycle was brewing as the housing crisis continued to rise and the level of unemployment rates were inflating each month. Correspondingly, front line staff were expected to cater towards the public need as they were thrusted into a lose-lose situation of unsafe Covid-19 protocol labor conditions and unlivable wages. The Service Industry was bearing the brunt of a labor-intensive environment without a catalyst for change, equity, or compassionate management.
As of recently, one determined Facebook coalition group, Service Industry Workers of the Ann Arbor Area, seeks to dismantle the “rules” set for frontline service workers within the Washtenaw area. Thousands of restaurants servers and bartenders from the local Ann Arbor area are joining together and pushing against the establishment in the name of justice. The pandemic provided a revolutionary halt to the harmful adages like “give service with a smile” and “the customer is always right”. The Service Industry Workers of Ann Arbor are challenging the norm with intentions of starting a conversation to humanize the server experience. As we witness novel moments of history from the pandemic, the Service Industry is cauterizing their worth, demands, and limits into the fabric of the American restaurant empire.
