Will the pandemic hasten the end of tipping at restaurants?

By Hanna Hyland
May 13, 2021

Gullifty’s Restaurant in Bryn Mawr, reopening for indoor dining Photo Credits: Gullifty’s Instagram

Just in the past 12 months, the United States has seen over 100,000 restaurants shut their doors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Restaurant businesses have been one of the hardest hit and are still struggling with the aftermath today. 

Owners are scrambling to make back the money lost as indoor dining was banned for several months and capacity limits have been low. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the restaurant business alone has lost over 5 million jobs across the country. 

Business owners are not the only ones being affected though, as restaurant servers have seen tremendous changes in their daily job. The New York Times said, “During two enormous crises — a public health emergency and an economic crash — restaurant service workers have found themselves double-exposed.”

Servers who have been lucky enough to still even have a job, come to work every day working long hours and risking their safety by being surrounded by maskless people. 

If that is not enough, many servers have noticed a serious decline in their tips as well. Dori Devivo, junior elementary and special education major, has been working at Gullifty’s Restaurant in Bryn Mawr for over two years. She said, “I definitely noticed a change in tips when we first opened back up. Some customers have been tipping really well, while others not so great.” She added that it has been a serious hit or miss but over the past month with restrictions being lifted she is starting to see it improving. 

Junior Piper Bryne Photo Credits: Instagram

Piper Byrne, sophomore marketing major, works at Anna’s Cafe in Sea Isle City, and has also noticed a change of tips but instead in a positive way. Typically this restaurant seats people indoors but with restrictions, they relied on customers ordering takeout food. She said, “People were still generous with tips, maybe even more so than they usually are with to-go orders.”

With the issues restaurants are facing, some question if tipping at restaurants even makes sense anymore and if servers minimum wage should be raised instead. This topic has been in conversation for several years across the country. The New York Times said, “The pandemic has introduced new obstacles into the no-tipping movement’s path. But others say this moment presents an opportunity to rethink old industry practices.”

Devivo does not believe tipping should end and expresses how servers really depend on tips and that is one of the positives of the job. She said, “I think there is sometimes a disconnect of understanding when people have not worked in the food industry so they do not understand how it works, which sometimes may impact how they tip.” Although she believes tips should stay, Devivo does believe customers should be more educated and understanding when it comes to tipping their server. 

Bryne sees both sides and can see tipping heading in either direction. She said, “There is so much talk about a minimum wage increase but what people forget about is how that would affect the businesses. I always think about business because of my major. My brain is trained that way.” Bryne said that instead of paying employees a higher wage, restaurants may start to replace employees with kiosks and computers. She said, “It is cost-efficient and I guess you could say safer during this pandemic.”

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Hanna Hyland

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