The head waiter has become a grocery manager. The conference coordinator works at a software company. And the head of hotel sales is now in marketing.
Workers at U.S. hotels, restaurants, bars, and convention centers have been one of the hardest hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. Blockages and lack of travel have caused many meeting places to close or reduce their staff. Since February 2020, the leisure and hospitality sector has spilled about four million people, or about a quarter of its workforce. In January 2021, 15.9% of workers in the industry remained unemployed; more than any other industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As a result, millions of hospitality workers, a group that includes everyone from reception officials to travel managers, are trying to launch new careers. Some have moved on to roles that leverage skills perfected over years of public work in high-pressure environments. Others have taken the opportunity to redo themselves for different occupations. Many continue to be in conflict to leave an industry, they say, that continually provides new experiences and engenders lasting relationships.
A year ago, Ellen White was head coach of Public Kitchen on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. There, he educated restaurant workers at the finest points of high-end service.
Mrs. White remained working in restaurants for nearly two decades while acting, until she was retired from her job when the pandemic spread last spring. Now, he applies this attention to detail to his work as a customer service representative for a company that processes Covid-19 tests at home.