Came across a stat about kitchen turnover rates that stopped me cold

I was reading through some industry report from Culinary Institute of America last week. It said the average turnover rate for kitchen staff is around 73% per year. That number stunned me. I've been doing this for 18 years and I knew it was bad, but almost three quarters of the crew walking out annually? We lose good line cooks constantly, usually to bigger places with better pay. But that stat made me think about how much time I spend retraining instead of refining recipes. How do you all keep your crew stable in this environment?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonh7410d ago

Buddy of mine lost his whole line crew in one weekend to a BBQ joint down the street.

blairtaylor10d ago

Wait, is losing them to a BBQ place really that bad though? I mean, if the crew is loyal to the joint down the street, maybe the boss should be paying more attention to what the guys actually want. Those line crews work crazy hours and if they found a spot that treats em right with good food, that's on the employer for not competing on more than just pay, idk. Maybe it's just me but keeping a team happy sometimes means understanding their habits instead of getting mad at a restaurant.

faith68410d ago

Gotta jump in here and say @blairtaylor you bring up good points about paying attention, but it's not quite that simple. In my experience, losing a crew to another kitchen down the street isn't always just about pay or being treated right. I've seen line cooks leave for a BBQ joint because they got tired of the chaotic fine dining pace, not because the boss was bad. Sometimes it's about the type of food or the hours, not just loyalty or money. Take this with a grain of salt, but I think part of keeping people around is figuring out what each cook actually values day to day, not just what you assume they want.