The past 18 months have been incredibly challenging for the American restaurant industry. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many restaurant businesses to close their doors back in March 2020 (some of whom closed their doors forever). Businesses limped along, adapting their services to include take-out and delivery – only to be met with a wave of employee resignations as states reopened.

According to Business Insider, a whopping 5.6% of restaurant workers quit their jobs in April 2021. This points to dissatisfaction across the industry, and it will undoubtedly hamstring many businesses as they try to return to pre-COVID operating levels.

But why are these workers saying goodbye to the foodservice industry? Here are a few possible answers.

 

They Want Safer Conditions

Across the country, restaurant workers are standing up against unsafe working conditions in the wake of the pandemic. Many businesses are champing at the bit to return to capacity and resume business as usual, but for waiters, cooks, and other staff who work in close contact with each other and the public, this can be potentially dangerous.

Today’s restaurant workers know the risk their job poses to their health, and many of them aren’t interested in taking the risk of being exposed to the virus for serving a guest their meal.

They Need Better Wages

If there’s one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that the lowest-paid workers in our society are actually the most essential. This includes restaurant workers, some of whom continued working even as cases and deaths rose nationwide.

We’ve acknowledged the vital role restaurant workers played through the pandemic – and now, they want to be paid accordingly. Like fast-food eatery Chipotle, some companies are rising to the challenge and raising wages, but companies that refuse are facing labor shortages as workers say goodbye.

They Aren’t Getting Support

At their heart, both the issues listed above are about the same thing: giving workers better support. Restaurant workers – like all employees – are trying to earn a living with dignity. When they don’t feel supported by their managers or company owners, they’re likely to leave as soon as they can.

 

If you want to hang on to your team, the best thing you can do is give them the support they need to feel comfortable at your restaurant. Take safety precautions to keep them healthy and safe at work. Allow flexibility for sick time if necessary. And give your team the proper training to help them feel like they’re truly an indispensable part of your staff.

When your team feels supported, respected, and valued, they’re much more likely to stick around – and your staff, your customers, and your business will all be better for it.

 

The hospitality industry is currently facing a strange and unprecedented crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly hard on America’s restaurants; over 110,000 businesses closed during the past year (many of them permanently), and nearly 2.5 million restaurant employees found themselves out of work.

After over a year without steady income, today’s restaurant workers should be champing at the bit to get back to their jobs. But as lockdowns and social distancing mandates end, restaurant owners are struggling to rebuild their workforce. Their reasons are vast – safety concerns, lack of childcare, desire for higher wages, or guaranteed sick pay – but the result is a massive labor shortage across America’s restaurants.

This shortage is incredibly frustrating for restaurant owners. After much hard work to build your business – and keep it afloat throughout the pandemic, why should you suffer now due to a lack of workers?

Some restaurant owners are flirting with automation to solve this labor shortage – but is this idea worth the investment? Here’s what you need to know.

Is Restaurant Automation Worth It?

In many ways, automation seems tailor-made for the restaurant industry. Automated ordering guarantees better accuracy. Robot cooks ensure consistency and speed. And a mechanical workforce means fewer employees to pay, decreasing your overhead!

However, we would be remiss in not pointing out the significant drawbacks that an automated restaurant could hold. Robotic cooks and ordering kiosks are expensive to buy and install, and they require technical maintenance to run at peak efficiency. Instead of paying a workforce of servers and cooks, you could end up with a new team of IT professionals on your payroll.

Additionally, the public still isn’t quite ready for a fully robotic restaurant. A 2020 study from Ball State University and the University of Nevada Las Vegas found that survey respondents had mixed feelings about automation in restaurants, citing a desire for the “human touch” throughout the dining experience. This is particularly notable in the aftermath of COVID-19, with so many people eager to regain the social interactions they lost during 2020.

 

What You Should Do

Automation, despite its definite potential, cannot become the driving force behind restaurants today. So, how can you combat the restaurant labor shortage and keep your restaurant fully staffed?

INVEST IN YOUR TEAM.

Proper training and support are the keys to building a competent workforce – and when you show you care and invest in your team, your staff is more likely to return and then stick around. Learn more about SynergySync today to check out our intuitive and affordable training system so you can build the restaurant team of your dreams.

Despite nearly one-third of hospitality workers losing their jobs during the pandemic, many reports indicate workers don’t seem to be returning to the hospitality industry.

Without sufficiently trained labor to fill in the gaps in hospitality establishments like travel, casinos, cruise ships, restaurants, tourism, and hotels, the entire industry could suffer from a global shortage of qualified workers, but what does this mean?

Causes for Hospitality Industry Labor Shortages

There are many different variables to consider that impact the hospitality industry and the loss of experienced workers.

A major factor is wages. In working roles where tips are a significant source of pay, such as with restaurants, employees may leave to find higher-paying jobs with consistent paychecks.

Consider, too, how quickly technology has become part of our daily lives, including our jobs. In some industries, like hotels, older employees may be forced out if they are not familiar with new technology.

Another variable includes an aging workforce with years’ worth of skills opting to retire from the hospitality industry.

Temporary Actions to Seal the Gap

While some hotels and other industries are trying to fill the gap with technology, for example, using cooking technology like sous vide and pre-portioned vacuum-sealed meals, others are assigning extra duties to available employees.

Still, these are stopgap measures that can only go so far. The best solution is training the new workforce appropriately.

There has always been a high turnover rate in the hospitality industry due to demands like working during holidays, nights, and weekends, difficult or angry customers, and high-paced work settings. However, we see the industry’s current struggle to fill essential roles that provide service and amenities to customers.

The Effects of Labor Shortage on Hospitality

While it’s difficult to predict the future, it’s highly likely that luxury and high-end hotels, restaurants, and services are on the verge of experiencing a monumental change. For example, over the next ten years, hotel rooms might decrease their number of rooms but increase in size to cater to the 1%. This will likely result in extremely expensive and sophisticated hotels, with fewer value-oriented hotels for those with a limited budget.

Still, this depends on a rejuvenated workforce, which likely might rely on the reformation of immigration laws. The hospitality industry is experiencing a record scarcity of employees, mostly due a drop in foreign-born laborers (source: Immigrants, the Economy and the COVID-19 Outbreak).

Guests might find themselves in long lines waiting for front desk assistance, room service, and more. Many hospitality executives are now calling for immigration reform to resolve these issues.

 

The Value of Customer Service Skills

Customer service skills are integral when offering a positive restaurant guest experience. These often include interacting with customers, maintaining a positive and cheerful attitude, and multitasking.

This is why it’s important to have a robust training program that includes standard operating procedures, accountability checklists, and proven methods in place, to enhance the capability of your staff. Our training platform—Synergy Sync— can help you with this. It promotes best practices throughout your restaurant, so training is a breeze. It’s also smartly priced, so you don’t have to worry about cost per user! For $350 a month, you get unlimited users per location and a wealth of industry expertise at your fingertips. Fully trained employees often translate into more satisfied employees. There is no better time than NOW to enhance and invest in your current and expanding team through a comprehensive training program.

The National Restaurant Association released a bleak report last week confirming what many in the industry already knew: 2020 was the most challenging year restaurants have ever experienced thus far.

More than 110,000 businesses closed (at least temporarily), and 2.5 million restaurant jobs were lost since the start of the pandemic.

With these staggering facts in mind, it may be hard for some restaurant owners, managers, and employees to remain optimistic. That said, it has also been a time of incredible resilience, where restaurants found ways to pivot their business models in revolutionary ways. Some incredible innovations have become popular during the pandemic: everything from dining in heated igloos to food delivery robots.

As the COVID-19 situation is evolving, businesses have had to adapt to a moving target. That’s why now more than ever, restaurant training is essential for employees to stay in the game.

 

Taking Part in the Takeout Revolution

The COVID-19 pandemic has more than doubled business for mobile delivery apps, including GrubHub, UberEats, and DoorDash. Experts speculate that people are more willing to pay a delivery fee when they perceive their safety is at stake. That said, mobile apps take a large cut of the sale—anywhere from 15 to 30 percent on average. As a result, some restaurants are beginning to offer their own delivery apart from preexisting apps. A restaurant training program can help train delivery staff for their expanded duties, ensuring better results and happier customers.

 

Staying Sharp with Technology

With surging demand for contactless ordering, restaurants have had to integrate technology into their business models, whether that was part of their original concept or not. Many restaurants have installed self-serve kiosks or apps for patrons to order food. Beyond that, some restaurants are rolling out robotic sanitizing devices or even self-dispensing salad bar robots. Restaurant training programs can help keep staff knowledgeable about the ins and outs of changing technology. Continuing education and training can help staff learn how to troubleshoot common issues with these tech items.

 

Keeping Up with ABC Laws

Early in the pandemic, states had to make emergency adaptions to their ABC laws to keep alcohol-serving businesses operational. This included some states beginning to allow takeout and delivery of alcohol, among other changes. Now that more places are open for on-site or outdoor dining, additional changes have occurred. Some restaurants that previously only had indoor dining had to create outdoor spaces for food and alcohol consumption. With a training program, employees can stay up-to-date on the latest ABC laws and avoid fines or other issues that come with violations.

 

A Safe Return to Restaurants for Hungry Guests

Consumers are looking forward to getting back to restaurants when things return to normal. In an end of year survey conducted by IFIC, 27 percent of respondents said the one thing they most looked forward to was worrying less when dining out, and 23 percent shared they are excited to visit restaurants more often.

 

That said, most of the public isn’t ready to go “back to normal” yet. In Axios-Ipsos, around 62% of Americans ranked dining inside a restaurant as a moderate to high risk to their health. That number remained relatively steady from September to October, after being slightly higher in the pandemic’s earlier months. Only 9 percent of Americans ranked it “no risk at all.”

Nevertheless, some may consider inside dining much less risky once they have been vaccinated. This means that an activity that once produced anxiety to the majority of the population will be able to bring comfort and joy once again, and it may be safe to conclude that Americans will be eating out more than ever, making up for lost time.

When customers feel ready to return to restaurants, they will likely do so in droves. As empty tables become filled again, a subscription-based restaurant training program like Synergy Sync can help get your staff ready to maintain safety and professionalism as the number of restaurant patrons grows exponentially.

In January the minimum wage in California is going up another dollar an hour! In Arizona, the start of 2019 marks a fifty cent increase in minimum wage. The harsh reality is that when this happens everyone’s wages get impacted. If you plan to pay a dishwasher $11.00/hour which will most likely be $12.00/hour (because you can’t find anyone to do that job for minimum wage), then you’ll need to pay a basic prep cooks $14.00-16.00/hour!  Everyone’s wages will need to go up. What’s a restaurant operator to do? They can’t just absorb the increase, but instead will have to pass it on to the customer by raising menu prices.

California Minimum Wage Across Cities and Towns 2018

Year	1-25 employees	26+ employees
2017	$10.00	$10.50
2018	$10.50	$11.00
2019	$11.00	$12.00
2020	$12.00	$13.00

Source: SwipeClock

Restaurant operators tend to get very nervous when they have to raise menu prices as it often leads to declining guest counts and consumers going to other restaurants to find a better value. How can a restaurant cope, let alone thrive in light of such challenges? Instead of blindly increasing menu prices, it is crucial a restaurant investigates other facets of their operation that are underperforming. Are you overstaffed? Is your menu too complicated? Is your kitchen optimized for cooking?

 

It’s not too early to get a head start to a profitable 2019.  As efficiency experts, Synergy Restaurant Consultants can find real solutions through innovative menu and labor optimization strategies. Synergy provides Productivity Assessments to analyze staff levels, understand labor performance and implement best practices that optimize operations, slash labor costs and boost productivity.

For the last 30 years Synergy has helped hundreds of independent restaurant operators along with regional and national restaurant chains improve the productivity of their staff:

As the founding partner I promise you this:  if you engage us for a Holistic Operations Assessment

• We will make you money
• We will save you money
• We will improve the overall financial performance of your business
• We will help you to improve the overall  execution of your food, beverage and hospitality strategy

Dean Small

There has been a lot of talk across the U.S. about the seemingly ever-changing minimum wage debacle. Just Tuesday, Los Angeles City Council approved the increase of minimum wage to $15 from $9 to be effective by 2020.

 

Los Angeles joins the rank with other major cities: San Francisco, Chico, and Seattle, which have also increased minimum wages to similar levels. The increase in wages will gradually occur over time, and business and nonprofit organizations with 25 or fewer employees have until 2021 to meet the increase.

This is going to have a huge impact for restaurant operators who already battle with slim profit margins. It further marks the importance of managing labor if restaurants want to remain in business.

 

Stay tuned for more updates on our blog about minimum wage hikes and what you can do about it.

 

Photo credit: torbakhopper CC by 2.0