Laid-off Silicon Valley tech workers searching for new opportunities are applying for Bay Area dishwashing jobs — but one local restaurant owner claims that many of the hopefuls simply don’t have what it takes.
“Most are not qualified,” Phong Nguyen, proprietor of popular San Francisco Vietnamese restaurant Pho de Nguyen, told SFGATE. “We’re looking for athletes. I basically stopped having people use us as a stepping stone.”
The eatery desperately needs an extra pair of hands in the kitchen, Nguyen said — and he wants to pay $50 an hour for the position.
Located within walking distance from Uber headquarters, where mass layoffs were announced yesterday, the restaurant went viral this week over a simple job posting on Instagram.
Commenters were mostly in disbelief that a restaurant would pay that much for a lowly kitchen position — even in California, where the minimum wage will increase to $17.40 an hour on Jan. 1.
There’s a reason for the great pay, Nguyen said — the Friday and Saturday night shifts he seeks to fill are his busiest. And there’s a lot more to it than pots and pans, he explained.
“You’re probably going to be on dishes half the time, then bussing tables, cheffing, whatever needs doing,” said the economics major-turned-restaurateur, who said he spends at least two hours per shift washing dishes himself. “We don’t have servers. We do everything.”
The post has now been viewed roughly 90,000 times — and Nguyen is now left to plow through hundreds of direct messages, applications and thread comments.
“I’ll quit my job today and head to you,” one hopeful exclaimed.
“I’ll take it and hire someone for $25 an hour,” another joked.
Nguyen won’t stop searching for the right fit, he told SFGATE, until he finds them — even hosting an open call for interested candidates today. It’s worth putting this level of effort into a search, he said.
“For me, especially in the Bay Area, you already know your turnover rate is going to be high,” he said. “People with more stable, simple lives are the ones who enjoy the work and will stay longer. Certain folks have a family and are just trying to pay their rent, and then there are people who are jumping from tech to the restaurant industry to whatever’s next.”
And even with such a full plate, he said, he’s delighted that word got out about the job.
“We are truly overwhelmed and happy that everyone was interested in the position,” he wrote earlier on social media. “We will try to select the best candidate to fit our little chef family.”
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