Restaurants’ labor challenges may not be easing up anytime soon; when it comes to the kitchen, new difficulties may emerge in the years to come as the labor pool shrinks.
Culinary school enrollment is on the decline, as The Washington Post reported Tuesday (Aug. 30). Across the country, the number of postsecondary educational institutions offering culinary programs fell from 264 to 210 between 2017 and 2020, per the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation, and even for existing programs, the number of applications is falling.
Restaurants are still struggling to stay fully staffed. Research from the 2022 edition of PYMNTS’ “Restaurant Readiness Index,” which drew from a survey of more than 500 managers of quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and full-service restaurants (FSRs) across the country, found that 45% of them had difficulty in hiring people to work in the previous three months. Plus, 46% reported difficulty in retaining employees in the same period.
Read more: More Than Half of Restaurants Depend on Digital Sales, Despite Uptick in on-Premises Orders
These challenges have been going on for years, although the pandemic certainly accelerated them. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, in 2019, the rate of employees separated from their jobs in the accommodation and food services sector was 79%, but in 2021 it was up to 86%.
When it comes to culinary school, the decline in interest in formal education may come in part from the high price of admission and in part from the availability of alternative routes for those looking to get into the business, such as working their way up from entry-level kitchen jobs.
Additionally, as far as formal culinary education, alternatives with lower financial barriers of entry are emerging. The Charlotte Business Journal reported Friday (Aug. 26) that Central Piedmont Community College boosted enrollment in its culinary program from about 25 to 45 this term after adding an accelerated career training (ACT) program for just one semester, teaching essential knife and cooking skills as well as other necessary kitchen practices.
“These are strictly lab classes to provide entry-level skills to get them jobs,” Richard Spellman, the school’s chairman of hospitality management, told the outlet. “We try to meet demand, and this came out of our advisory committee. We can give them basic skills and make great workers out of them.”
Additionally, a report from Chalkbeat Chicago noted at one of the city’s public high schools, Juarez High School, a culinary program is teaching students basic skills, getting some of them access to culinary school scholarships, an exposing them to other opportunities. The program has a waitlist, with many of those waitlisted students turning instead to the school’s after-school cooking program.
“Those hands-on opportunities have created buzz for our program,” culinary arts teacher Chef Samantha Jones told the outlet. “In terms of students who actively want to be here — that’s changed dramatically.”
