Listen to a former restaurant worker who is not going back

I can walk up and down San Francisco's hip Valencia Street and see the signs. Some former restaurants are never going to reopen. But among among the majority which have returned, every other one seems to display a sign: "need cook" or just "hiring." 

 

This is San Francisco -- the work may be drudgery, but it's better than many cities, almost certainly paying minimum wage with some benefits. But this is not enough; it's not just the money. But like most everywhere, these businesses are not finding enough takers to fill the available slots.

Here's Lori Fox, a Canadian former server, who explains why she's not going back after a pandemic pause that ended 15 years in restaurant jobs.

Let’s be clear, then. It’s not that we don’t want to work – it’s just that we don’t want to work a physically demanding job in substandard conditions without benefits for minimum wage. And we especially don’t want to do that during the rising fourth wave of a pandemic. A study published earlier this year found the risk of death during the pandemic increased 40 per cent for food and agricultural workers in California. 

Some of your “missing” workers are not missing. They’re dead. 

You’ll have to excuse us if we’re not chomping at the bit to get back to bringing you your dinner. 

... Like I said, it’s not that we don’t want to work. It’s just that we don’t want to work for you. 

We want to serve ourselves.

Probably most restaurant workers won't be able to make a transition to other jobs -- but a heck of a lot are trying to. Involuntary time off gave a lot of people a chance to think about what they value in life, and it wasn't busing our dishes while being yelled at.