The Great Resignation is beginning to create even more havoc for thinly staffed restaurant chains trying to rally back from being hammered during the pandemic.
This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that quits rates in the food service industry hit 6.8%, compared to an overall quits rate of 2.9%. Guggenheim analyst Gregory Francfort notes the quits rate for food service is well above the 5% peaks seen in quits in 2006 and 2019, and 4.1% average over the past 20 years.
"Workers continue to leave the retail and restaurant industries amid challenging demands put on existing staff due to labor shortages and other measures, such as mask requirements for customers. With the persistent high quits rate in these industries throughout the pandemic, both will remain constrained due to a lack of available people willing to work in these jobs. That will continue to weigh on overall employment given the size of both industries," opined DataTrek's Jessica Rabe in a research note to clients.
Was at a brew pub yesterday in the city. Beautiful fall day and great football so people were out in droves. To put it bluntly, our server was a total bitch. Probably some of the worst service ever. I looked around and counted her working at least 10 tables and that was just what I could see. Wrote her a note on the bill..."Thank you...hang in there". It took every fiber of my being to find the grace to do that because I really wanted to call her out. The ones that are still working, are working their asses off.