Re:Former Labor Secretary Found What Work Is Like Now
by bena on Friday January 21, 2022 @10:59AM
(#30025308)
Servers like it because they can abuse information asymmetry to get more money.
If I sit down at a restaurant, I don't know if the server has had a good week, a bad week, an average week, or what. So, not knowing that, if I'm sympathetic to their position, I'm inclined to tip well. Add on to that the constant pressure of tips upward. It's gone from being 10% on average to 20% on average in my lifetime. And also flat rates on certain services.
Perhaps counterintuitively, wait staff generally prefers a tipping model over fixed pay when given the choice. Tipping is more variable, but it can pay surprisingly well, especially for staff who are good at their job. It’s rare to find a no-tip restaurant that can match the earning potential of what a good server can make with tipping. It’s theoretically possible, of course, but in practice it doesn’t seem to work out in favor of fixed pay.