Kitchen Workers Got Tired, Left and Are Probably Not Coming Back

Is your food taking too long at the restaurant? Hang tight. There is a revolution going on in the kitchen, and your order of avocado toast is the least of their worries. 

Finding a “help wanted” social media post for one of your neighborhood restaurants is not rare these days. Since the reopening of dining rooms and bars after the COVID shutdowns, the already-existing problem of labor shortages in the restaurant industry has amplified and is now too big to ignore. 

Kitchen workers are tired, and they have demands. 

Chefs and cooks have a toxic relationship with the industry. The culture behind the revolving kitchen doors has a reputation for being aggressive, cutthroat, hectic and highly intimidating. The environment where “Yes, chef” seems to be the only correct answer, has been this way for many years.

“Gone are the days of raging off and throwing pots and pans while you verbally berate someone for scalding the case of reducing heavy cream,” says Mark Alba, executive chef at Kimpton Shane Hotel. He agrees that while those days are gone, the industry is still physically and mentally demanding.

Cooks and chefs sometimes work over 10-hour shifts, hunched over and moving fast at the beat of the ticket machine printing orders coming in. The kitchen is hot and loud. Everyone moves at a thousand miles per hour. The job sometimes wants you seven days a week, evenings, weekends and holidays. It’s not for everyone. 

Chefs and cooks make up 27% of the food industry, coming second to servers, nearly half the industry’s workforce. 

Everyone is hiring

In October 2022, roughly 11 million job vacancies were reported in the workforce in the United States. 10% of those jobs are in the food service industry. The rate of total job openings continues to edge down, but for the food industry, it doesn’t feel that way.

At the end of Summer 2022, Kimpton Hotels opened a new property in Midtown Atlanta. Chef Alba and his team were tasked with filling every position needed to run a restaurant, two bars, banquets, and in-room dining. The task of hiring people came with many challenges early on. “Getting the applicant to the interview was a struggle, and countless ‘no shows’ were a huge setback,” says Alba. “You want to hire the best, but there just aren’t as many around now.” 

81% of restaurants are short at least one position, according to the 2022 State of Restaurants Report by TouchBistro. 

The leisure and hospitality industry is hurting as a whole. A staggering 91% of hotel properties in the country reported being unable to fill vacant jobs in September 2022, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

The accommodations and food service industry is hiring at the highest rate nationwide. Nonetheless, workers are quitting at a higher rate than any other industry and being laid off at one of the lowest rates, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry just can’t catch up.

Even those who are hiring are faced with another very costly challenge - retention. The restaurant turnover rate is a shocking 23%, according to the National Restaurant Association. Fast-food restaurants see the turnover rate much higher at a minimum of 100%. In the past, turnover was considered part of the business, but with numbers rapidly increasing and costing millions of dollars, it is now considered a problem. 

In other words, workers are running away, but from what, exactly?  

For money or for love?

The restaurant industry attracts workers for reasons that come from very different places. 

“I liked that you could make a lot of cash fairly quickly,” says Jennifer Russic, who spent 25 years in the industry before leaving to join the insurance industry. 

For others, hospitality is a passion. “I enjoy connecting with people, helping them and doing so in a way that makes them feel special,” says Yajaira Torres, marketing director at Hyatt Centric Buckhead. With over 23 years in the hospitality industry, Torres can relate to burnout but is passionate about her career path in the industry.

55% of restaurant employees want to grow their career outside the restaurant industry, according to staffing expert 7Shifts. However, 25% of restaurant employees want to get promoted, move up and build a career path. 

“The hospitality industry will just be a job if you aren’t fully invested,” says Alba. The problem seems to be that the investment needs come not only from the employee. 

Kitchen Culture

At a restaurant, all the fancy and glamorous things happen only at the table. Back-of-the-house is another world. Working in a commercial kitchen is far from fancy. Those working in the restaurant industry have the second highest rate of depression among full-time employees, according to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrator. So, it is no surprise that those helping create memorable meals for guests are also “the most at risk for illicit drug use and substance use disorders, and the third most at risk for heavy alcohol use.”

The toxicity of kitchen culture has mental and physical effects on chefs and cooks, especially those young who are exposed to an environment where alcohol is available in the workplace. Demands are high and pay is low. Drugs and alcohol become a coping mechanism to unwind. 

The repercussions are also projected into the family and loved ones of those keeping the food coming. With a 15% divorce rate, food service workers are among the top 10 jobs with the highest divorce rates in the country, according to Zippia. A quick google search will populate several support groups for chef wives, including Desperatechefswives.com where those in a relationship with a chef - including wives of celebrity chefs - unburden themselves with one another over the emotional effect their husband’s demanding jobs have on them. 

Aside from the mental effects, chefs physically ache. From back problems, “chef’s foot,” and carpel tunnel to high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular health issues. So many hours in the kitchen provoke an unhealthy lifestyle and health risks. 

Never looking back

After making six figures at Michelin-star restaurants in San Francisco, Cameron Wallace found himself making minimum wage carrying 80-pound sacks of concrete at Home Depot after being laid off during the COVID shutdowns. 

As soon as the restaurant reopened the first time, Wallace went back, but not for long. “It wasn’t the same,” he says, “The vibe and the fun were different. It was survival.” 

Taking a job with a property management maintenance company “fixing shit,” Wallace is now out of the food industry and has no plans to return. “Despite the money, my quality of life is way better now.” 

Like Wallace, the COVID shutdowns forced restaurant employees to leave. The time away allowed them to discover a new way of living life, leaving them with little interest in coming back.

“People examined their lives and said what do I really want to do? Do I really want to work Friday, Saturday and holidays?” said famed chef and restauranteur Wolfgang Puck in an interview with Franchise Times at Restaurant Finance and Development Conference. “People want to go out. People want to enjoy life.”

Numbers point out that the joy restaurant workers are looking for comes in the form of more money, more benefits, and better career opportunities. 

What will it take?

Some big and small restaurants are seducing workers by implementing pay raises, offering more benefits, promoting a healthy work culture, and promoting a career path. 

But will it be enough?  

In a post-COVID world petrified of falling into a recession, restaurant employees are empowered to pick and choose where they would like to work. It depends on their decision to return and stay in the industry for business to continue as usual. 

The problem is that “usual” is exactly what restaurant workers are tired of. 

When asked what his favorite part about the restaurant industry was after 20 years, Micahel Cavanaugh said, “without hesitation or dubiety, it was leaving it.” He is not afraid to burn bridges if he must come back knocking on doors. “I will not return unless financially forced to do so,” he says with certainty. “Short of being faced with homelessness, I doubt I’ll ever go back.”