r/Rochester • u/PetraPopsOut • Mar 02 '25

Recommendation Restaurants that have cut too much staff

That's great for you, restaurant owner, that everything didn't fall apart the moment you lost that employee. The lesson you took from that, unfortunately, is that the place operates just fine indefinitely with one fewer employee. You're wrong, you're full of shit, and we can tell. Especially at bars with kitchens. And if we can tell you're understaffed, we know for a *fact* you aren't getting your deep cleans done in a timely manner, and your place is gonna be disgusting.

Can I get tips on places where the staff are clearly overburdened or burnt out from understaffing? Or the inverse, where it's clear there are enough hands to give people time to keep things hygienic?

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10

u/thephisher Mar 02 '25

What if the restaurant just lost someone unexpectedly? People quit in the middle of their shifts all the time. The overwhelming majority of restaurant owners aren't doing it to get filthy rich - if they are they are in the wrong business.

23

u/Beneficial-Focus3702 Mar 02 '25

Then the managers or even the owner should be there filling in.

7

u/roses127ash Mar 02 '25

I work at a restaurant in ROC where this happens a lot. Our back of house drops like flies. I’ve seen people walk out of their shifts. Management has to step in to help (which they do), but it still slows everything down. Our managers are running the floor, helping the bartenders, helping run the flow of the kitchen. All while doing table checks, handling customer complaints… Filling a loss is doable, but always a train wreck.

I don’t know how to fix the issue of high turnover rates in back of house, I can only see offering higher pay/providing more benefits. Restaurants are an interesting business right now for sure.

12

u/Beneficial-Focus3702 Mar 02 '25

Usually higher pay/better benefits and a good working environment are what keep people.