The risk may bring the reward of jobs that turn into careers. Indeed, the question of social mobility has been the driving force in the politics of 2020. Democratic presidential candidates have argued that the fruits of the record economic expansion, now in its 11th year, have flowed mainly to the wealthy. Unemployment is at 3.5%, according to figures released Friday, yet wage gains are tepid. Average hourly wage growth is running at a year-over-year pace of 2.9%, the slowest since mid-2018.
The average American brought home $51,960 in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but food preparation and serving jobs are among the lowest paid, with a median wage of $21,350. That’s about half of what carpenters, truckers and vocational nurses earn and about $4,000 less than taxi drivers and chauffeurs.
But demand for cooks is expected to far outpace general job growth, mostly because of population and income growth that will result in more takeout, delivery and eating out, the bureau says. The situation is particularly dire for restaurants that need cooks. In Renton and Auburn, Washington, IHOP restaurants are paying $18 an hour for those with experience. Yard House is offering as much as $20 an hour for a location opening in February in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Panda Express, which built the largest Chinese-restaurant empire in the U.S. over the past three decades, increased average hourly wages 17% since 2017. The closely held company run by Peggy and Andrew Cherng, is offering some employees sweeteners like stock options and a 401(k) contribution match, as well as financial assistance for continuing education.
“It’s hard across the board to get people, but definitely a little more difficult to get cooks,” said Wesley Janssen of Dickie Brennan, which owns five sit-down restaurants in New Orleans, along with a catering division. The company, which employs 600, recently decreased weekly hours required from 37 to 32 for staff to earn benefits including money toward buying a home. It also recently raised starting pay for its cooks to roughly $12 an hour -- equivalent to only about $25,000 a year.
Hardship Duty
“The wage rates have gone up but it’s been pretty low paid,” said Bob Goldin, partner at food-service consultant Pentallect. “You’re cutting, slicing, dicing, working over a hot stove, getting there early. Being a cook is really hard.”
Being a restaurant manager is no treat, either. Jethron Ravilla runs one of the many joint Taco Bell-KFC franchises in San Francisco that are owned by Harman Management Corp.
On Thursday, there was a line nearly out the door of about a dozen people waiting to order. With no one else equipped to run the register, Ravilla slowly whittled down the backlog of customers, including a man with his pants around his knees sipping from a small bottle of liquor. Ravilla took everyone’s order with enthusiasm and patience, all while making sure the three employees in the back were preparing the orders correctly and telling someone at the back of the line, yes they do accept government benefit cards.
And the labor shortage brings managers still another duty. At Favela’s Taco Bell in San Francisco, he had to excuse himself from a reporter to address a man who had been sitting at another table: “Sorry to keep you waiting. You’re here to interview for a job, right?”
—With assistance from Reade Pickert, Alex Tanzi, Anders Melin and Matthew Boyle.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.