Long Hours In the Hospitality Industry Bibliography

Growing up, I’ve always wanted to be a chef, and eventually become a restaurant owner. I’ve loved almost every aspect of the job. I love that it’s hands on; you move around a lot, and most of all you get to make people happy with your food. The only part of the job I never understood was this ridiculous notion that you had to work 10 to 12 hours seven days a week to really be successful in this industry. It almost makes you second guess your work ethic. It puts you in a state of am I not doing enough or are they asking for too much. Now don’t get me wrong, it takes hard work and dedication to make something of yourself, but it should never come at the cost of spending time with your family whilst missing important life events. 

There are lots of chefs who seem to think that if you aren’t working absurd hours, you aren’t doing the job right. In fact, most chefs are men, because the industry doesn’t believe women have the “time” to be in the kitchen. Particularly if they have small kids or plan on having kids. I’ve always found that really upsetting, because it’s the same thing as saying that it’s ok for a father to be away from his family. Stopping long hour work weeks is not only ethical, but it also helps to get rid of this agenda and or stereotype that men are chefs and women are home cooks.

Entry 1: Trade Article

Angelini, Giovanni (2016), Work-Life-Balance in the Hospitality Industry, from, https://angelinihospitality.com/work_life_balance_in_the_hospitality_industry 

This source talks about the long work hours in the hospitality industry, and gives you insight into how to balance the crazy schedule. Angelini explains that the industry is very demanding and that it often takes a toll on those who take on these jobs. In the hospitality industry, most businesses are running 24/7 for the entire year, and that means that they need staff for that entire time. That also means that being in this industry you have to work on holidays, which can often be stressful; especially when you are servicing others and seeing their joy that you can’t experience. If you think about your priorities and goals, it might make the jobs demand easier. 

Long work hours are ok for those who want to do it, but it shouldn’t be a requirement. You shouldn’t be given a schedule that asks you to come in for an excess amount of hours, and have to be ok with it. The author of this article almost sounds like he’s ok with these hours and almost sounds like he’s telling the reader to choose between successful and busy or mediocre and flexible. For someone who’s been in the industry for 50 years, he’s certainly witnessed the toll this takes firsthand. So why does he sound like he doesn’t want change? 

This is a trade article written by someone who is a professional in the hospitality industry for 50 years. His article was to inform and sympathize with the people that don’t enjoy working long hours in the business, and his tone was understanding. Although this is not a recent source, it still relates to a lot of today’s issues with the industry and is very much relevant. It was a good read, and it helped me understand a lot about why we have to work long hours. It almost changed my viewpoint, but I hold strong in my claim that we shouldn’t have to work long hours. 

Quotations: “This is a labor-intensive industry that offers good opportunities for career advancement, but we also have to accept that it is a demanding industry requiring full commitment and hard work. This includes frequent transfers and international postings that in many cases is the norm and an expectation, especially when associated with the global brands. There are times when hard decisions have to be made, whether to remain in the comfort zone and continue with the achieved quality of life or move to a totally new assignment (including overseas) where there are considerably more challenges,”

Keywords: Hospitality, Balance, Demand

Entry 2: News

Rao,Tejal (2021), What Is Hospitality? The Current Answer Doesn’t Work., from, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/dining/restaurant-hospitality.html?searchResultPosition=1 

This source explains the tolls of restaurant workers throughout the pandemic. It explained the physical stress of the job and the mental stress. They describe workers during the pandemic as being burned out and some afraid. Low wages for the amount of time and work being put in was also brought up throughout the article, and some industry professionals are working hard to change it. Only time will tell if the hospitality industry decides to accept this change.

Hearing what other professionals are going through, and how they view the industry, has been affecting my view. It’s making me understand the genuine issues behind the surface of this industry. The industry is becoming tougher by the day and workers are constantly being undervalued. The author did such a great job invoking change to those who will read, and he certainly went in depth with his research. I know this author wants change because he talked about how much the industry means to him, and someone with that much passion always wants to protect what they love.

This was a New York Times article meant to express the hardships the industry had faced through the pandemic. I believe it’s also expressing that the issues have been here before the pandemic, but are now heightened because of it. The author’s tone in this article is Optimistic and Confused, because they are hopeful things will change but don’t understand why it’s taking so long for change. Although it doesn’t give me all the information about my topic, it gave me good bits and pieces. I feel you understand a situation more from hearing from others who are in that exact situation or were in that exact situation.

Quotations: “Like many chefs in the pandemic, she saw burnout among her staff, who were worn down by the physical and emotional labor of serving and cooking through lockdowns — crying, stepping away from the line, struggling for a better work-life balance.”

“Prep cooks and dishwashers clock out of one restaurant job and head to a second, but still can’t piece together a living wage. Servers rely almost entirely on tips because the minimum wage is so low.”

Keywords: Wage, Balance, Stress, Change, Pandemic

Entry 3: Article

SOEG JOBS (2021), PROS & CONS OF WORKING IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, from https://www.soegjobs.com/pros-cons-working-hospitality-industry/ 

This source gives you the pros and cons of working in the hospitality industry and thoroughly explains both sides. One con listed is a con about the work pattern, meaning working long hours and weekends. It explains how this pattern is mostly always common when working in hotels. This article tries to give solutions to this issue. The solution that sounded best to me was a 5 day work week across the industry with extra pay for work on the weekends. The reason that sounded best to me is because at least it gives employees an option to work all those long hours if they want to.

I think the Industry is crying for change, but is still undecided about how to go about this change. However, you can’t make change without seeing change. Articles like these are the first steps to change, because if more people are writing these articles, more people will listen. You might want to look into the life of hotel industry workers after reading this article, because it’ll give the inside information that you need. This was an article worth reading, as it is helpful to understanding what you are getting yourself into.

This was an article written by a business meant to give readers an insight into the beauty of the hospitality industry and the flaws. The author’s tone was critical and peaceful. They filled the article with a lot of good information, and it may be the most informative of all my sources. This site is all about helping people learn about the hospitality industry, so it is extremely credible. This article lets me know there are some people thinking about the effects these hours have on others.

Quotations: “Demanding work hours and poor work-life balance is said to be the biggest disadvantage of this industry.”

Keywords: Weekends, Hours, Cons, Solutions

Entry 4: Blog

Jenkins, Carla (2021), 5 tips to handle long hours in hospitality, From, https://blog.typsy.com/5-tips-to-handle-long-hours-as-a-chef 

This source gives you tips on how to deal with the long hours in the industry. The publisher points out the fact that in this industry it’s hard to maintain a social life, because of the daunting schedule and work hours. One tip was to get quality sleep. I find that especially important, because with all the long hours, it’s important to get the best rest you can. The other important tip to me was to stay organized. If you plan your week out, you may just be able to have a fun week, or at least a memorable moment, with your family.

This source is important for anyone looking to go into the industry. It’s giving you the blueprint to keep yourself mentally and physically stable while working these long hours. However, while I think it’s important to have ways to deal with the stress of these hours, I don’t feel that we should. It’s almost like the author is saying she’s ok that there are 7 day work weeks with overbearing hours. I think it’s a good read, but the authors’ stance is not clear.

The author wrote this article to give tips on how to combat the long hours. The author who wrote this has studied the industry for years, and knows a lot about what the body needs. As far as being creditable goes, I think she is. I think her tone is concerned, because she’s listing tips to help people from being depressed and shutting their bodies down. Given that the site is about tips, it did a great job with providing the reader with accurate ways for this issue.

Quotations: “Many chefs, bartenders, baristas, kitchen staff, and floor staff find themselves sleep-deprived and tend to have no social life outside of their work environment.”

Keywords: Sleep, Stable, Mentally

The question of are long hours in the hospitality Industry acceptable will always be no. We are approaching new times and new ages, and things are bound to change. We’ve witnessed a lot of sadness during this pandemic, and family has become even more important. I get that you can’t have your cake and eat it to, but if enough people want the cake, why can’t we all eat it? At this point I feel as if to be successful in this industry is not my goal. My goal is to change the one sided thinking in this industry, because I want to lay the ground work for the future generations to come.