Ask HN: Would you swap your desk for a restaurant shift?
My friend just came from working at her sister's restaurant and was telling me how hard of a day it was, and how they are struggling with employee turnover. Then it got me thinking, what if there was an app that corporate workers could use to pick up shifts at other struggling businesses? Would you ever use it?
17 comments
[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 49.7 ms ] threadWhat would happen is this app would just turn into another form of gig work for unemployed people, and it would be a nightmare. Imagine going to a restaurant and no one knows what they’re doing, because they’re only there for a day. The restaurant would probably lose money due to waste and the bad reputation.
Here in Seattle, at a regular sit down restaurant, servers can average almost $40 an hour, even more if they worked the dinner shift.
In software, you're being paid to work on a project that loses millions of dollars per year, until it becomes a unicorn then starts to make millions of dollars per week. A guy who can improve ad click rates by 0.1% is worth several millions. Even without the economy of scale, the profit margin is 90%
In the food industry, you're buying a steak for $10, selling it for $20. But there's labor, rent, utilities, etc. Very often it boils down to $18 costs for a $20 steak.
But your competitor just quit his job to become his own boss. His dad and wife thinks he's an idiot and should just stick with the corporate job. They all put down half a million dollars on the restaurant. The numbers differ, but it's usually half the price of large house in the area. He's losing $1000 per month, but on some months he makes $2000. He'll probably get divorced if he calls it quits, so he's plodding on hoping for more profitable months. He works 14 hour shifts with his wife and will do so until he's 70.
Some of these people are immigrants. Home might be at war. They have no way back and no other skills than cooking. The kids go to school and come home and prep stuff in the kitchen. They're not playing games or chatting on the internet. They're helping mom and dad eat.
In a free market, restaurants are the losers. They're the least efficient way to turn time into money. Even washing cars has a better profit margin.
until AI inevitably takes my job
then sure
When I was in my twenties, a friend of mine had a catering lease at a golf club. I never worked seriously in the catering industry, but I always enjoyed helping out there (in service, in the warehouse, in the kitchen). It was a welcome change from constantly staring at a screen, and at the end of the day, it was a different kind of tiredness (the physical kind, you know).
Not for the money.
For example, one roommate of mine had a good day job, but would work thursday nights as a waiter at a high-end restaurant. He enjoyed talking to people. He also enjoyed convincing people to try higher priced treats.
I almost did the same thing with bartending when I was young. A bartender I knew talked me out of it, saying there was a dark side with lots of habitual alcoholics and more.
lol no.