Catering workers say they are overworked and stressed. here’s why

Some plan to hold on, while others wonder if it’s time for them to quit the industry on their own.

People quit in the middle of their shifts

Joshuah Morton, 36, worked as a waiter at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen in Phoenix, Arizona for about four years. Morton is diabetic and has a four year old son with immune deficiency. When the pandemic hit, he stopped working, fearing for their health. But by October, he was ready to return to work.

“Sitting at home all the time was getting depressing,” he said. And of course, the money was an incentive.

At the time, Morton noticed that the restaurant was struggling to bring employees back. Once he started bringing new people on board, many of them gave in to the pressure.

“People come out right in the middle of shifts,” Morton said. “[Hostesses who] sit the tables, the dishwashers, the bussers… they will come out, ”he said.

Morton understands why people might quit. After waiting to be seated, customers arrive at their tables “already angry, already wanting to complain about things,” he said. A few weeks ago, an employee started crying because a customer was so mean to her.

On top of all that, there are more take out orders than ever before. “It’s almost like double the restaurant, comparatively, with half the staff.” Darden, the owner of Cheddar’s, did not respond to a request for comment.

Morton considered retiring.

“I don’t think there is a server that hasn’t been tempted to shut down,” he said. “Especially at the moment.”

Serve, transport and circulate food

Karen McLaughlin, 58, works as a waiter at Provino’s, an Italian restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee for about two years.

The working conditions have been particularly difficult lately. Some people get hired and never show up, she said. Others arrive and leave after a week. For McLaughlin, that means wearing multiple hats per shift.

Some days “there are no bussers [and] no food runners so we have to take orders, manage our own food [and] all our tables, ”she said. “Servers have been called upon to work on the food chain, preparing salads, washing dishes. We go in and just have to fill in the gaps, ”she said.

On some occasions, current employees are not enough. “There was one day half of the kitchen didn’t show up,” she said. “So we had to open an hour later.”

The added responsibility means that waiters spend less time with customers and, as a result, earn less in tips. “If you have to do something else … then you earn less.” McLaughlin said.

John Miles, who has been the general manager of Provino’s for about 36 years, said that when employees take on other roles their pay is adjusted so that they earn as much as they normally would.

Miles described the current environment as very difficult. “We have never experienced the problems that we have now, like the lack of employees,” he said.

Among the current employees, “I asked everyone to do their best,” he said. “And some of them went beyond that.”

McLaughlin has worked in restaurants for about eight years – she calls it her “pre-retirement plan,” after working in the telecommunications industry for decades. The flexibility of her work in catering allows her to spend more time with her grandson. In general, “I really like what I do,” she said. “Except for this year.

Still, she expects things to turn around eventually and she plans to stay in restaurants. But she understands why, for younger employees with less experience, the job is not attractive. “It’s harder work than before,” she said. “So they get into something [where] they can’t see it’s going to get better at some point. ”

Customers who don’t understand

Patrons at the Asian fusion restaurant in Richmond, Va., Where 18-year-old Kat Combs works, are generally pleasant, she said. But since the reopening, some have behaved badly.

“One of our first reopening nights, a guy came to the bar and yelled at our manager. [He said] “You have to hire more staff,” as if she could fix it right there, ”she said.

Some customers get frustrated when they have to wait for a table, even if many tables are unoccupied. They don’t understand that the restaurant doesn’t have enough staff to serve them or cook their food, Combs said.

“I try to explain and most of the time they get it,” Combs added. But sometimes, she says, they don’t really care what she has to say. Combs will quit her job at the end of the summer when she enters her second year at university. There she will likely look for a job on campus.

Ingrid Moody, 56, has worked at a steakhouse in Riverview, Fla., Since November. She also found clients more difficult.

Nowadays, some customers have “rights,” she said. “We have fewer staff and fewer kitchen teams and people just don’t seem to care,” she said. “They’re very picky. And they pick on your tips.”

Moody is considering quitting his job. “If there was a better opportunity in a restaurant right now, I would probably take it,” she said.