Wanted: Food service workers
Not even the greatest surge in joblessness in 80 years is easing the fast-food industry's years-old labor shortage.
That's because the COVID19 pandemic is making this year's economic crisis very different than past downturns, when restaurants offered an important lifeline for the newly unemployed. Since service- sector j obs now mean a higher chance of infection, even higher pay isn't coaxing workers into the kitchen.
Key demographics _ like teenagers, at the urging of their parents, and the elderly _ are staying away for health and safety reasons, and emergency-enhanced unemployment checks have kept others on the sidelines. Restaurant chains are reporting they' re paying more, but that doesn't mean they' re filling their staff openings.
“This is the most dramatic shift that' s happened in the modern history of food service” said Aaron Allen, chief strategist at restaurant consultancy Aaron Allen & Associates. “It's the first time people have left the industry and decided not to come back.”
As of mid-July, only about half of the 6.1 million foodservice jobs that the U.S. lost in March and April had returned, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Early in the pandemic, restaurant chains pared menus, reduced store hours and cut staff.
While many traditional restaurants continue to struggle as consumers avoid dining rooms, fast-food chains and those with carryout have reported steady improvement this summer as socially distancing consumers opt for drive thrus.
Delivery-focused companies like Papa John' s International Inc. and Domino's Pizza Inc., meanwhile, have thrived.
To capitalize on the rebound, McDonald's Corp. said in June that it planned to hire 260,000 this summer. Subway, Taco Bell, Dunkin' Brands Group Inc ., Papa John's and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. are also looking to expand payrolls on a smaller scale.
But the lack of workers is complicating efforts.
Michael Lip pert, president of GPS Hospitality LLC, which operates almost 500 Burger King, Popeyes and Pizza Hut locations, said hiring has been particularly tough because fewer teenagers are applying. This has pushed up wages and led the company to expand overtime, previously reserved for management, to hourly workers.