The public is eager to return to sporting events and enjoy a meal out. But instead of full dining rooms, many restaurants are being forced to cut operating hours or leave tables open. If seats are not being filled multiple times per evening, the financial structure of the restaurant doesn’t work.
While leisure and hospitality jobs have increased by 292,000 in May, the industry is down more than 2 million from its pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, worker shortages have hit restaurants particularly hard, people changing careers, dealing with child-care challenges or avoiding such public-facing jobs for health concerns.
Many of those jobs could go unfilled if customers start shouldering more of the work of placing orders and payments. Thanks to automation and artificial intelligence, hospitality jobs have been looking different with contactless ordering and payment becoming the norm.