Comment by toomuchtodo

This. Demographic trends means prime working age population is shrinking every year, while undocumented immigrants who filled these jobs are being deported or otherwise disincentivized from filling these jobs. Those seeking this labor are now exposed to the reality of the shrinking pool of workers in this part of the labor market.

I won’t work a shift, but I’ll help anyone who isn’t unionized yet unionize. Wages have been stagnant for decades, and the minimize wage isn’t a living wage. Therefore, this is a perfect time to push the wages and working condition quality up as demand for labor exceeds supply for the foreseeable future.

https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/restaurant-industrys-... (“Beginning last year through 2027 4.1 million workers will retire annually, and there are not enough younger workers to replace them. If every unemployed worker found a job tomorrow, we would still be short by at least 1.2 million.”)

https://www.benefitnews.com/news/why-the-restaurant-industry...

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

https://www.axios.com/results?q=Labor%20shortage&sort=1