Oh! Oh! I have an idea...
Since no one is visiting restaurants any more because of the current economic condition, let's just cut all of the Bussers and leave the Hosts and Servers to fend for themselves. That should save all of the restaurant owners a TON of money! Right?
Eh, not really.
In this article from the Wall Street Journal, restaurants such as Bob Evans and TGI Fridays have recently removed the Busser positions in their restaurants as a cost savings measure.
Direct quote from the article:
" 'The busser is a luxury that, in this environment, is very difficult to justify,' says Mark Godward, president and founder of SRE, a Miami consulting firm that has advised several restaurants to cut busboys.
In many states, it's cheaper to keep servers on the clock than bussers because of a loophole that allows restaurants to pay servers who earn tips less than the minimum wage -- as little as $2.13 an hour. Bussers must be paid at least $6.55 an hour."
Ok wait.....so having a busser is now considered, "a luxury". I was unaware that having a paid worker to clear tables in a restaurant was so magnificent. Now if you said that white table cloths, unlimited amounts of alcohol or complimentary appetizers was a luxury I could possibly agree. But a busser? No, that is a standard.
More or less Friday's and Bob Evans believe that by cutting these select few from their staff they will be saving their business. I tend to disagree, in times like these we don't need less, we need more.
More and better service, more innovative products, more attention to affordability and pricing, more renovations and updates, more clean restrooms.
Less staff and less attention only results in one thing: less customers.
Be wary of the restaurants that cut bussers, you may find that you will have to fill the bus tub yourself.
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