WAITR now delivers in Atlanta/Queen City area

Last week the WAITR food delivery service went live, playing middleman for restaurants and residents in the Atlanta and Queen City areas. This is pretty exciting for small towns!

If you are unfamiliar with WAITR, it is an app that allows you to view menus of participating businesses (they have to optin,) make orders, and have your order delivered to your desired location. There are some fees required to use the service, but hey, sometimes the price of convenience is worth it, right? Specialty coffee at my doorstep on a Saturday morning sounds pretty sweet.

Something interesting (and perhaps a bit scary) is going on in the post-pandemic food industry. It seems that in our area, most people are going out to eat again, but the workforce has shifted. There are less people willing to work in the restaurant industry. There are new stressors related to COVID-19, and the food biz was never for the faint of heart of thin of skin to begin with; however, now that there are ample job openings at nearly every restaurant in our area, the pressure for those who are working is higher than ever.

People may be taking the “short-staffed” signs they’ve seen into consideration when making the decision to use that WAITR app vs dining in and risking a negative restaurant experience. If there are two openings for restaurant server, will the one on duty be overwhelmed by the workload during their shift? If customer service is poor due to staffing difficulties, will restaurant servers be able to make enough tips to maintain their jobs? Will the vicious cycle keep turning?

At the Chamber, we have been checking on our small restaurant owners, and times are proving to be challenging. Thankfully, these are some of the most resilient and adaptive people we know. They are tired, though. Will this industry shift be permanent, or will we see these job vacancies begin to fill as people get back into the workforce? It has not been long since titles like hostess, server, cook, restaurant manager, were all considered opportunities. Will WAITR delivery driver edge out some of these other positions in desirability?

Changing trends is a normal and ongoing occurrence, but it is our responsibility to recognize that the current trends are having an impact on local lives. We need to be mindful that behind every “Now Hiring all positions” sign is a business owner that is losing sleep at night and working themselves into exhaustion to try and pick up the slack. Be encouraging. There are employees trying to balance a full dining room plus a whole new wave of to-go delivery orders. Be patient. There are still problems with supply chain that nobody can control but everyone is inconvenienced by. Give grace. Tip them anyway.

Our local economy is rebounding well from the woes of 2020, but the struggle is ongoing in different ways. Remember to think local as an intentional hab it.

Our quote of the week is, “The ultimate resource in economic development is people. It is people, not capital or raw materials that develop an economy.” -Peter Drucker