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As he wrapped A brunch at Two Hands Australian cafe in Manhattan's Little Italy section, Christopher Mortenson saw his phone light up. All afternoon, he was waiting for notification: ABC Cocina, an upscale Latin American restaurant in the Flatiron neighborhood, needed a chain cook. He had an hour to get there.
At the end of the shift, Mr. Mortenson started running around town. As he was going to the restaurant, he went to a supply store to pick up a white chef's jacket, which he threw over his shirt. He arrived at ABC Cocina shortly before 5 am and spent the evening charring the peppers with a blowtorch and stuffing the pork into tortillas at the pillow.
In December, Mr. Mortenson, tired of working 50 hours a week for a low wage, left her job as a cook at a vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan and became a full-time member of the show's economy. Now he is running around New York, working in teams at several restaurants revolving around the staffing application of Pared Home. Until now, he has cooked in more than 70 kitchens, including Osteria Morini in Soho and Riverpark in Kips Bay.
"I have to turn off notifications at night – I can not sleep," said Mortenson, 51, who has worked full time at restaurants in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Austin, Tex. "They have sent me so many jobs I can not even look at my application yet without 10 jobs. "
Concert workers are not new to the world of catering. Everyday, Bicycle and scooter contractors deliver food for Uber Eats and DoorDash. But in a growth number of kitchens, contract workers are now doing the food, too.
Faced with the restoration Pared and its rival application, Instawork, fill a growing void as managers who have struggled to recruit permanent employees turn to on-demand services for workers trained as dishwashers, waiters, line cooks and even as oysters. the jesters.
As applications become more established, some workers are exchanging the stability of traditional jobs in the hospitality industry against the flexibility of temporary employment. Others use the apps to quickly earn money. This has raised concerns among some labor rights advocates who argue that the same pay and equity issues that have arisen in other sectors of the entertainment economy, such as deliveries, could end up in the kitchens of the restaurant.
"Workers do not have access to a union. They do not have access to collective bargaining, "said Ifeoma Ajunwa, labor and employment lawyer at Cornell University. "They are basically powerless, no matter what the platform decides as rules."
Founded in San Francisco in 2015, Pared has more than 100,000 registered users on its platform, as well as several thousand restaurants in the Bay Area and New York. The company has announced plans to expand its operations in Washington, Boston and Philadelphia in the coming months.
Instawork, also based in San Francisco, is present in 11 markets. Just under half a million people registered at Instawork. Pared raised $ 13 million in venture capital, while Instawork raised $ 28 million.
"Times are changing," said Will Pacio, co-founder of Pared. "Companies must evolve with the culture of the workforce."
The restaurants pay the applications for the worker's shift. Applications then deduct some of these costs for themselves and give the rest to the worker. No service would reveal revenue figures or valuation.
Hourly wages vary depending on various factors, including the location of a concert (an upscale restaurant in the Hamptons would pay more than a family restaurant queens) and when the display appears on the application (the workers earn more for the shifts available at the last minute).
In 2018, the workers of the Pared concert averages $ 19.66 hourlysaid the company. Instawork's contractors earn an average of $ 22.77 per hour in the Bay Area and $ 19.37 in Greater Los Angeles, according to Sumir Meghani, one of the founders of the company.
"We are doing our best not to talk to other employees at the full-time restaurant," said Zia Sheikh, a New York chef who hosts concerts at Pared. "You do not want to go to a chain cook earn $ 17 an hour and tell him," Hey, I'm here offset for $ 25.'It's not good for them.'
Jean-Georges Management, a group of high-end restaurants based in New York and including ABC Cocina, is a frequent customer of Pared. On July 4th, more than 600 people gathered for a waterside dinner in the new establishment of the seafood company Fulton, where the guests ate sashimi, caviar and fish and chips.
"Hundreds and hundreds of pounds of fish were cut up that day," said Gregory Brainin, director of culinary development at Jean-Georges Management.
A few days before the event, Mr. Brainin realized that he did not have enough cooks to prepare all this fish. So he called Dave Lu, one of Pared's founders.
"I told him," I need eight guys for July 4th, and these are the levels I need, and these are the specialists I need, "he said. Mr. Brainin. "And he did it."
Although Pared and Instawork are similar to Uber and Lyft telephony services, or a platform like Wonolo, used by show workers in various industries such as retail, manufacturing and hospitality, Mr. Lu compares him to the social platform LinkedIn.
"By working on our platform, they gain skills and experience," he said. "They are exposed to better restaurants, different environments and different cuisines."
For leaders hoping to advance in their careers, however, brief stays at Instawork and Pared may not provide the kind of sustained experience they will ultimately need.
"I'm worried about the acceptability and build-up of skills over time," said Mr. Brainin, director of Jean-Georges. "The person who works for two years – I do not know how sick that person becomes when they want to get down to work and become serious."
Career development is not the only problem. Like Uber drivers, workers who use hospitality applications are classified as independent contractors rather than employees, which means they are not entitled to benefits such as health care, paid leave and unemployment insurance. Gig workers can take out workplace accident insurance at Pared and Instawork in exchange for a small slice their salary.
"These apps are attractive because they offer a quick fix for finding work and finding a workforce," said Dr. Ajunwa, a law professor at Cornell University. "But they are also dangerous to the extent that they can condemn the workers who use them to a precarious work life."
Nevertheless, with the low unemployment rate and restaurant difficulties, applications appear to be on the brink of development, which could worsen the shortage of full-time employees. A recent A report from the TDn2K research company found that 93% of restaurant chains said their kitchens were often understaffed. Across the country, restaurants have tried various strategies to recruit new employees, including quarterly bonuses and a partnership with AARP.
"Not only is the turnover high," said Victor Fernandez, TDn2K industry analyst, "but employees quickly decide that there are better options elsewhere and choose them. . "
Among them is Mortenson, who said he could not imagine finding a job as a full time restaurant owner. "I make more money than ever in this sector," he said. "It's crazy."
Part of the appeal, he says, is that the app exposes him to new experiences, whether it's glazing gingerbread cookies at Bouchon Bakery or cooking ribs for Twitter employees at the company's office cafe in New York.
"That does not make me a better cook," he said. "But it's so amazing to go to a new restaurant every day."
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