Panera is losing more workers every year as fast-food turnover crisis worsens

    How much does turnover cost? According to Batt, the rule of thumb in estimating the expense can be broken down into a few simple parts: the time it takes a manager to hire a worker, the time it takes to train a worker, and the time it takes for them to become proficient on a job — in fast food, that is measured in one to two months, and during that period of time, half of the pay should be considered a loss. And there are less tangible costs: organizational disruption and team disruption.

    “If people get beyond 90 days, turnover really drops, and so that’s why we make investments in technology and training in those first 90 days. It has a huge return,” the Panera CFO said at the CNBC event in Chicago. “Turnover and recruiting costs you money and is felt in the guest experience.”

    “Turnover is the biggest problem in the industry,” said Jordan Boesch, founder and CEO of 7Shifts, who grew up working in Quiznos locations run by his father. The self-described “quick-service kid” started 7Shifts to provide on-demand staffing andrestaurant shift scheduling to restaurants. A survey of workers using its system found that more than half wanted to grow their careers outside the food industry. Only 25% were looking for a promotion in the restaurant space, and that was heavily tilted to cooks.

Some experts believe the rise of the gig economy is hurting restaurants’ ability to recruit and retain staff, saying it is harder for any worker to justify punching a clock at a fast food restaurant offering little to no benefits.

    Brightloom’s Brotman, who comes from the Howard Schultz school of employee management, said Starbucks may be an outlier in offering healthcare, stock options and free online college education to employees, but it should also be an inspiration.

“I don’t think there is a single answer on how everyone should do it. Automation can help with the issue, but I talk about digital tools to allow people to spend their time connecting with customers rather than doing menial tasks. People you have doing the job they want to do, which is ultimately the best use of time. ... I don’t think the restaurant business is thinking about it as ‘we just need to replace people with technology.’”

    It might also help if more respect for the fast food worker came from the dining public, according to the most-vehement prognosticators of the inevitable rise of the robot in the kitchen and at the counter. “I’ve been in thousands of fast food restaurants but never seen someone say to a manager, ‘I want to report that this worker was fantastic.’ Especially the counter,” Pizam said.