The kitchen is the heart of any restaurant, which means you can’t run a successful venue without adequate kitchen staffing.
The challenge is, the restaurant industry has been struggling with a shortage of chefs and other back of house staff for several years now.
Back in 2019, TouchBistro’s Annual Industry Report found that seven in 10 restaurants in the U.S. were experiencing a labor shortage. This report also revealed that the labor shortage was specific to back of house staff, with more than half (52%) of full service restaurants experiencing kitchen staffing shortages. Worse still, it seemed that the higher the annual revenue for a restaurant, the more they struggled with labor shortage across multiple roles. For restaurants with an annual revenue of $2 million or more, 39% reported a line cook shortage, and 25% said they didn’t have enough prep cooks and chefs.
And the problem has only gotten worse in the wake of the pandemic. As of June 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the restaurant industry was still 1.5 million jobs – or 12% – short of pre-pandemic levels. And like previous worker shortages, the problem is more pronounced among back of house staff. In fact, a recent survey by a restaurant-staffing firm found that a whopping 25% of back of house restaurant workers have left the industry entirely.
While these stats put real numbers on a grim reality you might already be facing, rest assured there are strategies you can put in place to help you deal with kitchen staffing issues caused by the back of house labor shortage.
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article by ChefandCookJobs
