In my 30 years of life, I have never seen the job market more friendly, welcoming, and eager to hire than I have now. I cannot think of a single restaurant (including fast food) that is not currently hiring and/or understaffed. One of my favorite breakfast spots in North Georgia, Martin’s, closed early one day due to lack of staff. There is a Popeye’s down the street from my house that is currently offering $50/week bonus for every week that an employee works. McDonald’s locations around metro Atlanta are offering $11-13/hour just in starting pay!
I have pretty mixed feelings about all of this. Here’s why:
The Perfect Storm
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States of America in March 2020, no one knew what to expect. Schools closed, companies were forced to shut down based on the classification of whether or not they were “essential,” and the United States government began working to get relief funds and unemployment checks to those who lost their jobs. I work in an essential business (construction, which included then-current government and military contracts) and to see the entire world change almost overnight was frightening.
I remember one evening coming home through downtown Woodstock, the city my wife and I lived in. The once bustling town with a vibrant nightlife was a ghost town. No cars, no people, no sounds of local musicians, and no smells of the amazing local cuisine. It was truly one of the most depressing moments I experienced during the pandemic; the livelihoods and dreams of people were shattered. I still recall what was supposed to be a two-week lockdown and I knew that this was not going to end that soon. I was right, sadly.
As I stated before, my wife and I were both fortunate enough to have jobs and be essential workers. Others were not so fortunate and my heart hurt for them, especially as there was such a rough start to getting unemployment checks out. As the summer hit, things started to improve, but it was the beginning of a rather strange problem: manufacturing in various industries was falling behind due to lack of employees across the board. These employees were laid off when the pandemic began, but when it came time for them to be able to come back, they didn’t want to work as they made significantly more on unemployment than being employed. You would be surprised by how much this affected the construction industry; more specifically, flooring. Waiting a week for a truck that was only an hour north of our warehouse in Georgia due to lack of warehouse staff to load trucks was insane.
The Fruits of Our Lack of Labor
As the unemployment checks continued rolling in, those who wanted to get back in to the work force did so, but many left their existing positions, whether that was in the restaurant industry, retail, banking, office, etc. The restaurant industry, out of all the industries, was hit hard by the employees who either stayed on unemployment, found another job, or outright quit and got a better job somewhere else. Can you blame them? I definitely don’t!
When you’re paid minimum wage or darn near minimum wage and are treated like trash by customers and management on a power trip with no discernible way to climb the ladder with that particular company in sight, why would you want to stay any longer than you need to? I spent almost 12 years in fast food and it sucked, especially towards the end, when I realized I was being taken advantage of. To put it in perspective, I took a 50% pay raise with full benefits when I quit to work at Real Floors Atlanta. I liken what many fast food and restaurant employees are experiencing to when Neo in The Matrix chooses the red pill versus the blue pill. Their eyes were opened and they saw a new hope emerge; a hope of being able to pursue and accomplish dreams that they always had, but were unobtainable in their position.
Let me take a moment to clarify that I did have an issue with people making more money on unemployment than they were working. The unemployment checks should have been no more than what that employee made pre-tax and the fact that they were is a travesty. In any case, though, it happened and while we cannot change what happened, it does give better perspective as to why we’re in the predicament we are now.
This brings us to the current reality of the job market: there are more jobs than people. FAR more jobs than people. Restaurants and fast food joints are hurting so badly for people that some are cutting their operating hours. Others that stay open despite being understaffed are burning out their existing employees, such as is the case where (supposedly) an entire Burger King restaurant posted on the sign outside that they all quit due to poor working conditions. All of this brings us to a breaking point where there is, almost literally, not enough money to get people to come and work. Bonuses are being offered to employees to work, including sign-on bonuses, including Martin’s that I mentioned earlier in this article, and weekly bonuses, such as the Popeyes I mentioned near my house. Others are offering PTO and benefits.
In one sense, I am really glad to see the tables turn. People love to go out to eat, but don’t appreciate the hard work people put into having make their meals, clean the restaurant, etc. It’s a thankless job! On the other hand, and this is not meant to be disparaging, it is mostly menial work (at least in fast food; restaurants are arguably different), hence why the pay was so lousy. However, when the owner of the restaurant is making several hundred thousand dollars a year or the general manager is making $100,000 a year or more while paying the employees minimum wage when they are fully able to, that is not right. While I agree that the owner takes all the risk and thus reaps the reward, the employees ought to be recognized as the driving force behind the brand’s success. This isn’t to say that wealth is bad or evil, but rather, generosity towards your employees in all areas, including pay, can and will grow your company financially.
So, what is the solution to the current situation? I think raising wages for those in fast food and restaurant industry is LONG overdue. If menu prices need to go up a little bit, so be it; I want my order to be prepared in a professional manner with great customer service to boot. That is worthy of a higher wage! Furthermore, offering PTO and benefits to employees in fast food and restaurant industry is also a must. There are people who spend their career serving others in these environments and as they get older, things happen. Life happens. Employees who are loyal to your company deserve to be well-compensated and taken care of as they have given their time and dedication to your business.
Having said all of that, I know there are many who will disagree and hem and haw at what I wrote here. However, until you work and live in this career field, you do not have much of a say-so. Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and see if you don’t come out different on the other side.
Answering the Call 