![]() Our own research tells us that businesses need to do more than butter up candidates with free lunches. And as The Economist points out, “ For the first time in decades, bargaining power is shifting from firms to low-paid workers.” Tipping culture is sexist, racist and degrading.Īsk yourself: would you want to work in an industry that generates five times the average number of sexual harassment claims per worker?Īcross the pond, UK employers are also complaining of labor shortages. T ipped restaurant workers, who are over two-thirds women, reported facing dramatically increased health risks and harassment in restaurants during the pandemic.įor workers who are forced to rely on tips to earn a living wage, enforcing COVID-19 safety protocols on potentially hostile customers, who may then withhold tips, is a nearly impossible expectation. But now, as restaurants and retail re-open to a population eager for public dining, shopping and more, those employers are also facing a workforce that’s fed up. The service industry has always had one of the highest turnover rates in the labor market, even pre-pandemic. While some industry analysts have argued that service workers are simply preferring to stay home and collect unemployment insurance, most tipped workers reported in the survey that they either could not access those benefits or received much less in benefits than they needed because their tips were not recognized as income. ![]() “It’s a wage shortage, not a labor shortage” – UC Berkeley Food Labor Research Center. And 78% – nearly 8 out of 10 workers – said the thing that would make them come back to work in restaurants is a full livable wage with tips on top. In a survey of 3,000 hospitality workers across the country by the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley, 53% of people surveyed said they’re leaving the industry because of low wages and tips. Take the food service industry, which laid off 5.5 million employees at the start of the pandemic and is typically characterized by low pay (the US federal subminimum wage for tipped workers is only $2.13 an hour). Part of the problem is poor working conditions. In the aftermath of COVID-19, businesses, particularly those in the service industry, are struggling to retain existing employees and attract new talent. Rather than the result of new job creation, these record levels of openings are likely due to record levels of job leaving. The highest quit levels were seen in the hospitality and retail trade. That’s because while both hires and layoff levels stayed flat, the quits level increased to a series high of 4 million. After more than a year of pandemic-induced layoffs and downsizing, it appears the job market is now hot.īut while some may be quick to credit stimulus packages for this uptick, the data tells us the reasons run deeper – and they aren’t all positive. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the number of job openings reached a series high of 9.3 million. Image: Austin TX is hiring, but are people looking? It seemed like every other business was pulling out all the stops to recruit employees. ![]() On a recent trip to Austin, Texas, I walked down buzzy South Congress Street and noticed something different from the restaurant strips of San Francisco where I live.Īustin has been ahead of SF with its reopening, and shopfronts down South have swapped signs that read “open for curbside pickup” with sweet-talking “we’re hiring” messages. Whispering sweet nothings? Employers need to do more than pretty promises to beat the hiring crunch.
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