NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — With most COVID-19 restrictions behind us, restaurants are hoping to bounce back to pre-pandemic success. Customers are back, tables are set, but it's hard to find chefs to put food on the plates.
"It takes a special person to work in the food service industry," said Joe Fire, Head Chef at the new Seva Tapas Bar & Lounge.
There are more than 150,000 chefs working right now nationwide, but over the next decade, the profession is expected to grow by 15%, according to the US Department of Labor.
Fire's kitchen and others currently have dozens of open positions.
"It's hard to get people in the door," said Fire. "It hasn't been easy I'm not gonna lie. We're on indeed so we post a lot of jobs, people call, you try to call them back, we don't get a lot of answers."
There are fewer chefs applying and fewer people applying to become chefs at local culinary schools.
"Enrollment is down, we know this is not only a national trend, but it's also regional and hyper local," said Josh Blumberg, Campus Manager at Niagara Falls Culinary Institute.
Enrollment dropped by 48% from 2016 to 2021 at NFCI, a loss of more than 200 students. Across all SUNY schools with culinary and hospitality programs, enrollment is down 52%.
Why don't people want to become chefs?
Well, it's not an easy job, students at NFCI say you have to have a passion for it.
"You have to be able to stand long hours, for me, I use compression socks so my legs aren't sore. Yes, you'll get burns once in a while, I may have injured myself recently," said Anna Lee Palmer, who's in her second and final year.
Apart from second degree burns, she says the days are long. As a student, Palmer started her day in the kitchen at 9am and finished around 10pm. Chefs also work a lot of weekends and holidays.
The average pay of a chef or head cook is $50,160 annually, but you have to work to get there.
"A lot of my colleagues started as a dishwasher, move your way up to a line cook, move your way up to a sous chef, then work your way up to an executive chef," said Chef Scott Steiner, Coordinator for the culinary program at NFCI.
Plus, habits changed during the pandemic.
"They're looking for other ways to make money, there is a sort of gig economy going on, so maybe people who used to work in your restaurant are now doing DoorDash," said Blumberg.
What's the solution?
NFIC is starting to recruit students from out of state to get a two-year education for a lower price. Tuition is around $7,000/year through Niagara County Community College, compared to a private education like Johnson and Wales which is $36,000/year.
But it goes beyond the numbers.
"A lot of it is how we make our employees feel while they're working, most people will stay where they're if they're being treated well, the hospitality industry, we really really need to embrace that," said Blumberg.
He finds the younger generation won't put up with the way things were, rather they need to be paid, respected and given room to grow.
