Restaurants have reopened their doors, but the workers haven't come back
When COVID-19 reached the U.S. and government restrictions set in -- closing indoor dining in much of the country -- millions of restaurant workers found themselves without jobs. But now, as restaurants are reopening and people are once again going out to eat, owners are facing a different challenge: Their workers haven't returned.
"If you look at who is working in restaurants in 2019 versus today, there's about a million people who have disappeared," said Micheline Maynard, Washington Post columnist and author of the soon-to-be-released book "Satisfaction Guaranteed: How Zingerman's Built A Corner Deli Into a Global Food Community."
The labor shortage is having wide-ranging effects on the industry. Many restaurants are having to cut hours, sometimes opening only for dinner service rather than all-day service. Some are even cutting entire days of service ... the real problem lies within the industry itself. The hospitality industry is already high-stress and physically taxing, and now the pandemic has brought new challenges, including an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19. "Servers are tasked with reminding people that they have to have a mask on," Maynard said.
Those who return to restaurant work are also having to work harder due to staffing shortages. But because they're missing that extra set of hands, service becomes slower and tables don't turn over as quickly. "And the person who hears the complaints about that is the server," said Maynard. "It's hard on the staff, it's hard on the owners, they're stressed all the time [and] people are leaving."
https://abcnews.go.com/US/covid-19-pandemic-exposes-challenges-restaurant-industry/story?id=79852137
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