Calling all seniors: Restaurants can use your help
I always encourage seniors to consider working in restaurants as a fun full-time or part-time job.
Just as COVID ended, the hospitality industry was desperate for employees. Today, the industry does not have quite the same issues, but shortages persist, and I still am a huge fan of enticing seniors to working in their local restaurants.
Why? Because seniors are spectacular role models for today’s employees.
You might be asking, “What makes me so special?” First, if I schedule you for 10 a.m., you come in at 9:45, get organized, and by 10 you are at your station, ready to go. This is not true of many in today’s working generation, who show up at 10, get into uniform, vape, send a few texts, and then eventually get to their station.
When we ask seniors to focus 100% of their time working with guests, we have an employee who spends 100% of their time doing just that. I have never seen any of our seniors trying to sneak into a corner to call their significant other or text their friends.
Today’s labor pool, in terms of numbers, is more stable; however, a great deal of today’s labor shortage consists of employees who accept a job but are unreliable. They show up late, miss shifts, don’t call out. This is the exact opposite of the seniors who are working or are looking for some part-time hours.
We seniors may not move as fast, we may not lift as much, but we do the most important thing any employee can do: show up! We are ready to work!
You can be a star
We as seniors like to be appreciated for what we do by both management and guests. Do you want to feel appreciated? Call a restaurant, let them know you’re interested in a job, make an appointment for an interview and then show up on time for the interview. Just doing that may make the managers or owners break down in tears.
I have many friends who are retired and complain that they have nothing to do, or that they are bored. My father used to say that “only a boring person can be bored.” Feel great about yourself and work a few four-hour shifts in a restaurant each week, meet and enjoy the young people who also work there, and enjoy greeting the guests who are coming in for a meal and a special time together.
No excuses
You’re considering what I’m saying but looking for an excuse to stay on the couch? You might be saying, “I can’t work in restaurants because I don’t have experience.”
Don’t worry. You have been to plenty of restaurants and you understand how they work. Managers and owners love to train people in the hospitality business, and they will love working with you.
You might be saying, “I can only work from 6 to 10 in the morning,” “I can only work during lunch,” or “I can only work three hours a day, four days a week.” Don’t worry about any of those things, because I know if you tell the restaurant owner when you can work and that you will show up on time for every shift, they will find work to fit your schedule.
I fell in love with the restaurant industry when I worked as a dishwasher at age 15. This has been my career and, at 66, I’m as excited now every day when I go to work as I was way back then.
One of the greatest benefits is that you have a fully satisfying job at your convenience and, at the end of your shift, you are done. No work to take home, no stress, and the only thing you will be thinking about is what you want to learn tomorrow and how to spend the extra cash.
• Izzy Kharasch is the founder of Hospitality Works, a consulting firm that has worked with 700+ restaurants and small businesses nationwide. He is offering Daily Herald restaurant owners a free consultation by contacting him at Izzy@HospitalityWorks.com.