“The costs are prohibitive to new restaurateurs,” he added. While major hotel chains and restaurant groups can rely on recruiters to staff their restaurants and bars with documented workers, smaller businesses don’t have the financial wiggle-room to outsource their hiring or to ensure their staff have proper documentation. So the default for managers is to look for literally anyone to fill those spots.” “As an employee, you’re better off working at a McDonald’s drive-thru than doing a dishwasher job. He wished to remain anonymous due to the delicate nature of the subject and to protect his clients. immigration lawyer who represents several major resorts and hospitality companies told Eater. “Hospitality jobs are hard jobs to fill, because these positions aren’t wanted by most Americans,” a U.S. Couple that with tight profit margins and fast-paced, physically demanding work, and it’s easy to see why restaurant owners will hire people in a pinch, regardless of immigration status. Restaurants have some of the highest turnover rates of any industry (71.2 percent in 2015, compared with 45.9 percent for private-sector employees).
However, it’s unlikely farms or restaurants will change their hiring practices, because most don’t have a choice to begin with. The food industry wouldn’t be possible in the way it is without them.”Īs long as the Trump administration continues to push stricter immigration policies, the food world is going to feel the squeeze. “They cultivate our produce they cook our food. line cook and the communications manager for Define American, a media company focused on immigrant rights and identity. “Immigrants feed this country,” says Noelle Lindsay Stewart, a former D.C. or worse, that there won’t be enough food for us all to eat due to labor shortages.
Just one day without immigrants cost the restaurant industry a huge hit to its profits, and some experts predict that without undocumented labor, the price of food will increase up to six percent. Why is hiring undocumented workers so common in the restaurant industry?Īccording to a 2008 Pew report, undocumented workers make up at least 10 percent of the hospitality industry and 13 percent of the agriculture industry (though these are estimates and are likely underrepresented - as Eater reported last year, over 20 percent of all cooks could be undocumented). So how and why do restaurateurs do it, and at such a high volume? We spoke to lawyers, restaurant owners, and policy makers to find out. But hiring an undocumented worker seems tricky at best, if not incredibly risky. Fact: The food industry hinges on the work of thousands of undocumented immigrants.
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