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Wolfgang Puck can’t find waiters because of labor shortage


Armybrat

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Many reasons why there is a labor shortage including that people realized that some jobs are shit and they’re happier working elsewhere. Workers may eventually come back to them but the bad jobs will be filled last.

now I’m sure there are some decent jobs with good bosses that are also failing to find workers.

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47 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I’m not buying that people are happier to make 50k at home doing nothing as opposed to making 120k working. I’m sure someone makes that choice but not the average person.


SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will pay off all the past-due rent that accumulated in the nation's most populated state because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a promise to make landlords whole while giving renters a clean slate.
 

The “average” rent in Santa Monica is $3,500 for 750sq ft. 
https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/santa-monica/
That $50k is $120k without any of the labor. 

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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12 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I’m failing to see how anyone is trying to “fuck” anyone here, other than the guy cries about having to pay a free market wage without bringing in dirty immigrants.  

Having eaten in a few of his establishments over the years, I’m not sure “dirty” immigrants is his hiring pool.

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1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

There is a thread discussing the “labor shortage”. …..
 

The person you were replying to was trying to keep the scope limited because this topic is inherently CR. Economic policy and Monetary Policy are literally set by the government. One side is arguing “free market” and the other side is arguing “livable wage”. It should be in the CR. The OP doesn’t like the CR so he posts here because…reasons. 

The topic is inherently CR so please go to the 11 page thread in “Food and Travel” to discuss it?  Gotcha

 

Edited by Lhorn
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3 minutes ago, LABEVO said:

 

No one tells the truth when it comes time to raise prices.  Because if you're pricing correctly, you're pricing based on what people are willing-to-pay for the product.  You blame your costs when raising prices because that is what the market accepts.  It's why the airlines always point to fuel costs when raising prices even though they've hedged their fuel cost 20 years out.  Prices aren't raised to pay CEO bonuses and shareholder dividends.  Those things are the effects of higher profitability not the causes of pricing increases.  Companies who over-shoot pricing increases are either beat by competitors who undercut them or the market who refuses to pay for their products and they aren't paying big money to shareholders for failure.

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1 hour ago, ChickenSandwich said:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will pay off all the past-due rent that accumulated in the nation's most populated state because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a promise to make landlords whole while giving renters a clean slate.
 

The “average” rent in Santa Monica is $3,500 for 750sq ft. 
https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/santa-monica/
That $50k is $120k without any of the labor. 

From the bill:

If one or more individuals in your household meet all of the following, you are eligible to apply: Have qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due to COVID–19; and Demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability, which may include: a past-due utility or rent notice or eviction notice; unsafe or unhealthy living conditions; or any other evidence of such risk, as determined by the program Have a household income that is not more than 80% of the Area Median Income.

 

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9 minutes ago, Foosters said:

From the bill:

If one or more individuals in your household meet all of the following, you are eligible to apply: Have qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due to COVID–19; and Demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability, which may include: a past-due utility or rent notice or eviction notice; unsafe or unhealthy living conditions; or any other evidence of such risk, as determined by the program Have a household income that is not more than 80% of the Area Median Income.

 

Yup. Anecdotal but my friend who is a server, wife WFH, has no reason to go back.  With him on unemployment, it allows them to live rent free until Sept. They are still receiving two full incomes (actually more when rent is out of the equation).  They have been traveling. 
 

Im sure they are not alone and I don’t blame them for getting ahead in such an expensive place to live. (They had to relocate for her job from TX before COVID). 

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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8 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Wage slavery? Yay?

 

It’s not wage slavery. Jobs are available and business owners are suffering, but all anyone cares about are the lazy fucks who’d rather stay home. In fact, right now would be a great time to negotiate some better pay.  I’m assuming they don’t understand that because if high school was too difficult to finish, they probably never made it to Econ, which is why they are making $20/hr in the first place.  Can’t afford to live in Austin on $20/hr? Well, no one guarantees you a place in an expensive ass city; Waco is just up the road my friend.  

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13 hours ago, Lhorn said:

What the fuck are you talking about?  It’s not just millionaire celebrity chefs who don’t step into their own restaurants but every 6 months that are struggling to hire workers. I don’t give a shit about Wolfgang Puck and the .5% of restaurant owners who are lighting cigars with $100 bills.  A lot of people barely surviving in the industry have gone out of business and a labor shortage ensures that shit ton more will in the near future. Coming off COVID and finally getting to really open up but not having staff is a dire problem.  You think about economics like a child. You want to fuck the 10% of those that can afford to pay more even if it means fucking the 90% of those who can’t. 
 

He's talking about siding with corporations and chains over privately owned small businesses that got crushed during the pandemic while "essential" corporations were given a pass to stay open.  The huge chains and big box stores CRUSHED during the pandemic.  They saw their market share expand as more and more small business competition was unable to keep up.  I think we are saying the same thing?

As for Puck, there were earlier threads about small biz owners and the pushback that they just "pay more"......now we are seeing it with a very high end outfit that can pay workers much more; and even THEY are facing shortages.

 

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6 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

It’s not wage slavery. Jobs are available and business owners are suffering, but all anyone cares about are the lazy fucks who’d rather stay home. In fact, right now would be a great time to negotiate some better pay.  I’m assuming they don’t understand that because if high school was too difficult to finish, they probably never made it to Econ, which is why they are making $20/hr in the first place.  Can’t afford to live in Austin on $20/hr? Well, no one guarantees you a place in an expensive ass city; Waco is just up the road my friend.  

This.  This type of verbiage is right out of the manifesto.  Not every job is meant to be a long term, stable career.  Many jobs are entry level, transition type positions.  Most or us worked them.  Learned from them.  Then moved on.  Telling a small business owner that they must pay someone $20/hr to wash dishes it absurd.  Or bus tables.  Some jobs are not fun and pay lower wages.  The pay justifies the skill-set needed to perform the task.  

The problem is many UE + Covid relief payments in certain areas equate to $23-$24/hr.  That's good money to sit on your ass (or get a side hustle, which I imagine most are doing).  Biz owners can't compete with that price point for the jobs they need people for.  

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9 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

This.  This type of verbiage is right out of the manifesto.  Not every job is meant to be a long term, stable career.  Many jobs are entry level, transition type positions.  Most or us worked them.  Learned from them.  Then moved on.  Telling a small business owner that they must pay someone $20/hr to wash dishes it absurd.  Or bus tables.  Some jobs are not fun and pay lower wages.  The pay justifies the skill-set needed to perform the task.  

The problem is many UE + Covid relief payments in certain areas equate to $23-$24/hr.  That's good money to sit on your ass (or get a side hustle, which I imagine most are doing).  Biz owners can't compete with that price point for the jobs they need people for.  

If you are dependent on transitional high turnover labor, you probably want to make good and sure that pool is going to stay deep enough for you to push in. Smaller yearly cohorts turning 18 every year into the 2030's aren't going to make it any easier coming forward, regardless of what gov't policy is.  

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6 hours ago, Mole said:

Anecdotally, it seems like many of the more competent service industry folks have found better things to do — with better pay, more stable work, and fewer interactions with the hoards of sociopaths looking to take out their life frustrations on a stranger — those insane people who are apparently everywhere that take such joy in the suffering of others.

So while you’re berating you’re server for the cold burger and for forgetting to bring you your Shirley Temple, take some comfort that the old, competent server has made a better life. Rather than a crisis of refills, we just might be witnessing the American dream in action on a large scale.

Or you know, the entire social order was upended, the world was shut down, lots of people died, we all lost our minds, and maybe transitioning out of that pit might have a few hiccups.

All I know is that I never got my hash browns with my Father’s Day omelette and I was left hungry.

This. 

Waiting tables before a pandemic sucked ass and didn't pay well. Most people who did it did so because they'd gotten into it young, it paid the bills, and they didn't really have enough time to find something else in an entirely different industry. When millions of them lost their jobs during the pandemic, they had time to find something better to do and a lot did. Others tried going back to work in literally life-threatening conditions for less pay and were subjected to even shittier treatment from customers than before and said fuck it. 

I've waited tables and worked on a landscaping crew and would much rather work landscaping than in a restaurant again. I sympathize with some of the actual small business owners who run restaurants. We could've done more to help them out and done more to keep their employees around, but many of the same people bitching about things now bitched about those proposed solutions. However, most restaurants aren't really owned by small businesses. I've got no sympathy for the partnerships that own 25 Applebees and pay their waiters $2.13 an hour and their cooks little more. And if paying their employees better requires raising prices, fine. I'll pay more and anyone who doesn't want to can learn to cook.  

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33 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

He's talking about siding with corporations and chains over privately owned small businesses that got crushed during the pandemic while "essential" corporations were given a pass to stay open.  The huge chains and big box stores CRUSHED during the pandemic.  They saw their market share expand as more and more small business competition was unable to keep up.  I think we are saying the same thing?

First of all, I agree with what you’ve said at the bottom of this post and the subsequent post. 
My “wtf” post was after he accused me of favoring billionaires when I pointed out that the labor shortage he applauded is very bad for a struggling industry.  Favoring billionaires is pretty much the exact opposite of my point.  I think we are all in agreement that small businesses got hosed by COVID.  The problem with applauding Chipotle and WP getting their comeuppance for not paying better is that they probably pay similar or better than many “mom and pop” businesses.  So being happy that big box stores can’t hire probably means small retailers are going to suffer disproportionately.  And before someone tries to twist this into being a big box store sympathizer, what I am concerned about entirely is the small businesses that are struggling.  Don’t give a crap about WP or chipotle or McDonalds or Home Depot or Victoria’s Secret or Costco or Walmart….

 

Trust me, I’d love to see smaller business thrive and big box retailers struggle a bit but the current labor shortage does exactly the opposite. 

Edited by Lhorn
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Just now, fattyflattie said:

She forgot to add the final phrase, “when the govt is handing out unprecedented amounts of cash to those not working”.   Sort of changes the math a bit for the business owners. 

You mean having to go to work for the same or roughly the same amount of money to stay at home and do nothing or side hustle isn't the same thing?

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12 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

That's about as sophisticated as saying to a biz owner that to make more money, they just need to sell more stuff.

Businesses aren't guaranteed to stay afloat. And many of them also received assistance to keep the doors open for the last year. If external factors have changed, and a business isn't profitable anymore, the owners should evaluate shutting the doors. This situation occurs many many times every day regardless of COVID and govt payments.

There are also many business suffering because of inflation. Now you could argue that govt actions have created inflation but they also prevent inflation at times as well. take the bad with the good.

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Fortunately, for the people in the thread convinced this is 100% to blame on lazy fuckers getting rich off EUI will have plenty of data coming up to confirm or contradict their hypothesis. Nearly 20 states have already cut off enhanced payments or will do so as soon as this week. If there's a rush on low-wage hospitality jobs in the next few months, you'll be vindicated.

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Just now, fattyflattie said:

All of this is correct.  So, govt should quit meddling and persuade a few more to get back into the workforce.  We can start by dialing back their lazy free money. 

If there that lazy too, why are these businesses wanting to hire them? 

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3 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

All of this is correct.  So, govt should quit meddling and persuade a few more to get back into the workforce.  We can start by dialing back their lazy free money. 

So let me get this right: government shouldn't meddle, but it should subsidize businesses that provide healthcare to employees? 

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5 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Businesses aren't guaranteed to stay afloat. And many of them also received assistance to keep the doors open for the last year. If external factors have changed, and a business isn't profitable anymore, the owners should evaluate shutting the doors. This situation occurs many many times every day regardless of COVID and govt payments.

There are also many business suffering because of inflation. Now you could argue that govt actions have created inflation but they also prevent inflation at times as well. take the bad with the good.

Certain ones most certainly are.  The point is the government picking winners and losers.  By creating an artificially high price point on wages, the conversation is now much more than about the "labor market".  Not every job should have to be paid out at $20-24/hr.  Certain jobs but their design and lack of any appreciable skill set to perform them are priced much lower.  

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8 hours ago, Mole said:

Anecdotally, it seems like many of the more competent service industry folks have found better things to do — with better pay, more stable work, and fewer interactions with the hoards of sociopaths looking to take out their life frustrations on a stranger — those insane people who are apparently everywhere that take such joy in the suffering of others.

So while you’re berating you’re server for the cold burger and for forgetting to bring you your Shirley Temple, take some comfort that the old, competent server has made a better life. Rather than a crisis of refills, we just might be witnessing the American dream in action on a large scale.

Or you know, the entire social order was upended, the world was shut down, lots of people died, we all lost our minds, and maybe transitioning out of that pit might have a few hiccups.

All I know is that I never got my hash browns with my Father’s Day omelette and I was left hungry.

well, the argument, from many who shall not be named, is that these low wage jobs aren't appropriate for adults trying to support a family of four. They have used that argument to keep these low wages in place.

so yeah, be prepared for more and more teenagers (without fully developed frontal lobes) to be preparing and serving food. Fuck-ups can and will happen.

Edited by yoladu
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1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

That's about as sophisticated as saying to a biz owner that to make more money, they just need to sell more stuff.

Do you honestly think that Heidi has NEVER ran a successful business, or even employed anyone, and has only worked as an economist? I mean, really! 

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5 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I’m not buying that people are happier to make 50k at home doing nothing as opposed to making 120k working. I’m sure someone makes that choice but not the average person.

Agree. There are a fuck ton of people doing work for way less and would be happy making more money. It's likely that the labor pool for these upscale restaurants is limited which is why Puck wants to bring in immigrants rather than tap local workers.

 

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11 minutes ago, F250 said:

Agree. There are a fuck ton of people doing work for way less and would be happy making more money. It's likely that the labor pool for these upscale restaurants is limited which is why Puck wants to bring in immigrants rather than tap local workers.

 

If you are capable of earning 120k being a waiter you probably got a few more desirable skills than your standard Chilis server, and likely are employed elsewhere right now.

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16 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

Pay everyone $50/hr.  They’ll have really good jobs for about 2 weeks before the restaurant goes under.

Why shouldn't the restaurant go under if they can't figure how to turn a profit while paying market wages?

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4 hours ago, Lhorn said:

The topic is inherently CR so please go to the 11 page thread in “Food and Travel” to discuss it?  Gotcha

 

I agree, I believe that topic should be in the CR as well, but again, some people want to have a political discussion outside the CR for reasons. 

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26 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

The business owners got free money from PPP loans. Now that they got theirs, they want to the government to take away the workers free money. I'm sorry, but that is fucked. Those people are selfish pieces of shit. 

 

This is crazy. Local businesses were going out of business left and right. Most of my favorite restaurants are now closed. With a return to normalcy, owners are now looking to hire. If they can't hire at the going rate, they are going to have to pay more for employees. Then business owners will try to pass along those price increases to customers. If customers are unwilling to pay the new prices then the business will fail. Selfishness has zero to do with any of this.

It involves a basic economic principle called inflation and a basic capitalist phenomena called business.

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4 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

It’s not wage slavery. Jobs are available and business owners are suffering, but all anyone cares about are the lazy fucks who’d rather stay home. In fact, right now would be a great time to negotiate some better pay.  I’m assuming they don’t understand that because if high school was too difficult to finish, they probably never made it to Econ, which is why they are making $20/hr in the first place.  Can’t afford to live in Austin on $20/hr? Well, no one guarantees you a place in an expensive ass city; Waco is just up the road my friend.  

Fine, but at some point you have to recognize that quality of life in a city like Austin will take a hit if restaurant workers can't afford to live there anymore. We just keep saying, well, if you can't afford an apartment, move farther out. If you still can't afford it, get a roommate. Still having trouble? Get more roommates or move even farther out. Even the starriest-eyes new Austinite hipster can only take so much before they move somewhere like....Waco, which then becomes the next hotspot.

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6 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

that some jobs are shit and they’re happier working elsewhere.

Is there actually any data that former restaurant workers are working at other jobs even for lower pay or is everyone on here pulling opinions out of their ass for confirmation bias?

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