Working in Restaurants/Considering Move to Seattle... (home, job market)

[notreadyfortheshow]

I am a high-end restaurant professional, and among several other places, I'm considering moving to Seattle. I'm wondering about the restaurant scene there.

I'd like to hear from people with firsthand knowledge, preferably those who have worked in restaurants since the minimum wage went to $15/hour.

First and foremost of course, how is the money? I'm sure with the minimum wage, that does provide a cushion against slow periods and crappy nights, but I can say that with certainty that a higher minimum wage in and of itself is not sufficient to make good money.

Second, how is the job market? I know from living in CA that the higher wage for servers does mean that employers cut labor and are desperate not to have overtime. That can be a benefit and a drawback. There's not much standing around on slow nights for little money, as bosses are willing to send staff home ASAP. At the same time, it can be hard to get five shifts week-in, week out, without having two jobs.

Thanks for any info!

[Hemlock140]

It's not $15 in Seattle yet, that is being phased in over seven years. It will be $11 for employers with less than 500 employees January 2017. One thing I have noticed already is that restaurants are doing a 20% service charge and eliminating tips.


$15 Minimum Wage - Mayor Murray

[CrazyDonkey]

What do you mean by "high-end restaurant professional"?

So, do you want to work in a restaurant, or do you want to start a restaurant?

The state of Washington just voted to raise the minimum wage statewide to $13.50 by 2020, which will be $6.25 over the national minimum wage, while Seattle's minimum wage will be $7.75 over. Whether rising wages will lead to more demand or rising prices will lead to less demand remains to be seen. Different segments (low-end vs high-end?) could respond differently.

Many higher-end restaurants have gone to adding a 20% gratuity, while making further tipping optional, with the gratuity + optional tips distributed to ensure that everyone, from dishwashers up, are making at least the minimum. If prices rise too fast and demand falls off, however...

[perigee]

I think we need a sticky post that the min. wage isn't $15/hr.

[mhays25]

It'll be interesting to watch, and a mix of good and bad results. There will be different rules in Seattle and the suburbs though I don't know all of the details.

Restaurants will be under pressure to keep staffing levels down. So maybe three cooks instead of four. But it'll be three good ones (others need not apply). As for waiters, places that go to no-tips will have trouble attracting good ones.

Seattle also passed rules about predictable hours, which means chain restaurants can't change their schedules less than two weeks out without paying big penalties. That'll help control some of the abusers. It'll also mean that if the night is surprisingly busy they'll still leave Section 3 closed because there's nobody to cover it or cook for it, and staff won't be able to get out of days they're scheduled for...they'll get paid regardless, so they'd better show up. In fact, there will be pressure from staff to bosses to publish shedules more than two weeks in advance, so they can respond, because at two weeks the decisions are final.

Much will be about loopholes as always. Small businesses (not franchises) will have different rules. And family businesses REALLY different rules. You don't have to pay your kids $15, or anything at all. That's a positive outcome...they'll get a lot more market share. Also, there's a size threshhold for the schedule rules.

Before the state law passed I assumed a growing percentage of Downtown Seattle lunches would be made in the suburbs and trucked in every day. And automation would explode. With the first option no longer an advantage, the second will likely take off more quickly. It's not that people want this, it's that the allure of saving a buck or two will cause demand anyway. This will only grow. And maybe more restaurants will do what the chains always have...let the salad dressing and deserts come from a factory, whether that's a cute hipster factory in Portland or Amalgamated Biscuit.

It's been decades since I was a cook, and my stake is as a customer/human and just being curious.