The “Most Democratized” Industry? Hold my burrito.
I read a newsletter recently that made the following claim about the restaurant industry:
"while our industry is far from perfect, I’ll argue that it’s the most democratized of any I know, and we promote and reward from within as much (or more) as any."
I love a good rags-to-riches tale as much as the next guy or gal, especially because I can’t claim one myself. The story featured six restaurant company CEOs and COOs climbing from the pit to the penthouse. Inspiring stuff, to be sure! But using those six exceptions to knight the entire restaurant biz “the most democratized industry” is like pointing to Boloco’s famously “stupidest” 2006 re-brand and declaring every marketing flop a masterpiece (it was a masterpiece in the end, for a different day). Let’s peek behind the swinging kitchen door:
1. Wages: Still stuck in 1991, with interest
The federal tipped wage is $2.13 an hour—flatlined since George H. W. Bush was in office.
Even with tips, the median frontline food-service worker earns $14.92/hour—that’s less cheddar than the nachos, ChatGPT v.o3 tells me (and I have no idea what it means, but someone must).
2. Health care: “Mom, can I stay on your plan forever?”
A record 81 % of restaurant workers now have some form of insurance—but less than half are the policyholder. Most hitch a ride on a spouse’s, parent’s, or “mysterious roommate’s” plan. Premiums are so high that most restaurant workers won’t touch health insurance unless employers can pay for 80% or more of the fee, and most restaurant employers simply can’t.
3. Sick leave: Hold it in or if you have to, cough quietly
Among America’s lowest-wage workers (hi, that’s resteaurant workers!), only 39 % have any paid sick time. The other 61 % play “Will my manager notice if I sound like a dying seal?” while plating your guest’s Caesar salad. Many receive it only because the states in which they live or work mandated it.
4. Upward mobility: One ladder, 100 people, missing rungs
Turnover in limited-service restaurants is still north of 135 % a year. Every single person hired is leaving in the same year, and some. Hard to climb when the rungs keep falling off faster than we can deep-fry them. It means few people get good training, and its a chaotic existence. Some people thrive in that environment, most don’t. Ever wonder why drugs and alcohol abuse run rampant in the hospitality industry? That’s one of the ways to cope with a dead-end job.
5. A ray of hope—if Congress doesn’t burn it, which is sadly the most likely outcome
A bipartisan Senate bill would hike the regular minimum wage to $15 and, yes, finally kill the $2.13 relic. Industry lobbyists adore the “no taxes on tips” sound-bite; they’re less smitten with paying the full freight. Democracy gets awkward when everyone’s paycheck is invited.
What real democratization would taste like
A wage floor that isn’t a time capsule. If your labor model only works at $2.13/hour or even the full minimum wage of $7.25 (or perhaps even double that!), it’s not a model—it’s a museum exhibit. Your success is fabricated unless your people are succeeding too, and by succeeding I mean living decent lives with basic bills paid and a cautiously optimistic eye on a brighter future.
Health insurance by default, not scavenger hunt. A burrito shouldn’t come with more coverage than the person rolling it. Hey, that was ChatGPT again. I always love checking in with my editor these days. But in all seriousness, we all deserve basic health care. If you are a restaurant owner and can’t figure out how to make the numbers work while not at least offering health insurance to all, at an affordable price, then you aren’t really in business. Capishe? (did not check spelling, neither did I ask my editor to)
Paid time off so sick cooks stay home. Fewer norovirus specials on the chalkboard, happier guests.
Transparent paths to promotion. The dishwasher-to-CEO pipeline shouldn’t be the Powerball jackpot that we all bow to—coach people up the escalator and help them exit the industry if no great roles present themselves. The most successful employees I’ve known since starting my own restaurant with my partners 28+ years ago are the ones who left.
My two (fully taxable) cents
Look, I’ve made every mistake in the book—some of them twice for emphasis—but even I can see that sprinkling six fairy-tale success stories over a 15-million-person workforce doesn’t make the system democratic. It makes the exceptions louder than the rule.
Democracy at work means your prep cook can pay rent and a dentist, your server can watch their kid’s little league game or dance recital without begging for shift swaps, and no one has to choose between flu symptoms and the fryer. Until that’s mundane reality, calling the restaurant industry “the most democratized ” is—how do I put this delicately?—seasoning the guac with wishful thinking.
Let’s aim higher than PR taglines. Call out the truth. I promise the food—and the people who make it—will taste better for it.
