IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i19p10378-d648701.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Occupational Stress in Restaurant Work: A Qualitative Study

Author

Listed:
  • Julia F. Lippert

    (College of Science and Health, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA)

  • Mackenzie B. Furnari

    (School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA)

  • Charlie W. Kriebel

    (College of Science and Health, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA)

Abstract

The economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted the food service industry—one of the largest workforce sectors in the United States. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the occupational stressors experienced by restaurant and food service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic through a detailed assessment of their lived experiences. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns within data from sixteen semi-structured interviews with people employed or recently employed in the restaurant industry during July of 2020. Five themes were highlighted including fear of being exposed to the COVID-19 virus while working under inadequate safety policies, job insecurity, inconsistent pay and hours and a lack of health benefits and paid time off, all of which increased occupational stress and led to uncertainty if respondents would return to the restaurant industry. Hardships associated with the pandemic were mitigated by the support and connections fostered by the communities built within the restaurants. Results led to several recommendations to address the social and economic contributors to occupational stress at the structural and population levels which can be used in the current and post-pandemic workplace.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia F. Lippert & Mackenzie B. Furnari & Charlie W. Kriebel, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Occupational Stress in Restaurant Work: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10378-:d:648701
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10378/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10378/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Congressional Budget Office, 2019. "The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage," Reports 55410, Congressional Budget Office.
    2. Frieden, T.R., 2010. "A framework for public health action: The health impact pyramid," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(4), pages 590-595.
    3. Ahonen, E.Q. & Fujishiro, K. & Cunningham, T. & Flynn, M., 2018. "Work as an inclusive part of population health inequities research and prevention," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 108(3), pages 306-311.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Angela C. Dufour & Fiona E. Pelly & Judith Tweedie & Hattie Wright, 2022. "Perceptions of the Impact of COVID-19 Countermeasures on Safe Foodservice Provision at International Sporting Competitions: A Qualitative Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Roberto Carlos Dávila Morán & Juan Manuel Sánchez Soto & Henri Emmanuel López Gómez & Flor Carolina Espinoza Camus & Justiniano Felix Palomino Quispe & Lindomira Castro Llaja & Zoila Rosa Díaz Tavera , 2023. "Work Stress as a Consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mendez Lopez, Ana & Loopstra, Rachel & McKee, Martin & Stuckler, David, 2017. "Is trade liberalisation a vector for the spread of sugar-sweetened beverages? A cross-national longitudinal analysis of 44 low- and middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 21-27.
    2. Chen Zhang & Xiaoming Li & Yu Liu & Shan Qiao & Liying Zhang & Yuejiao Zhou & Zhenzhu Tang & Zhiyong Shen & Yi Chen, 2016. "Stigma against People Living with HIV/AIDS in China: Does the Route of Infection Matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Bolte, Gabriele, 2018. "Epidemiologische Methoden und Erkenntnisse als eine Grundlage für Stadtplanung und gesundheitsfördernde Stadtentwicklung," Forschungsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Baumgart, Sabine & Köckler, Heike & Ritzinger, Anne & Rüdiger, Andrea (ed.), Planung für gesundheitsfördernde Städte, volume 8, pages 118-134, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    4. Nova Corcoran, 2017. "Promoting health in lesbian and bisexual women: it is not just about behaviour change," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(21-22), pages 3742-3750, November.
    5. Christopher W. Ryan, 2023. "Decreased Respiratory-Related Absenteeism among Preschool Students after Installation of Upper Room Germicidal Ultraviolet Light: Analysis of Newly Discovered Historical Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-11, January.
    6. Mayra L Estrella & Natalya I Rosenberg & Ramon A Durazo-Arvizu & Hector M Gonzalez & Matthew S Loop & Richard H Singer & James P Lash & Sheila F Castañeda & Krista M Perreira & Kamal Eldeirawi & Marth, 2018. "The association of employment status with ideal cardiovascular health factors and behaviors among Hispanic/Latino adults: Findings from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, November.
    7. Skedinger, Per, 2022. "The Economics behind the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the EU: A Critical Assessment," Working Paper Series 1438, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Marie Astrid Garrido & Verónica Encina & María Teresa Solis-Soto & Manuel Parra & María Fernanda Bauleo & Claudia Meneses & Katja Radon, 2020. "Courses on Basic Occupational Safety and Health: A Train-the-Trainer Educational Program for Rural Areas of Latin America," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Sebastian del Busto & Inés Galindo & Juan Jesús Hernandez & Francisco Camarelles & Esther Nieto & Águeda Caballero & María Sandín Vázquez, 2019. "Creating a Collaborative Platform for the Development of Community Interventions to Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-14, February.
    10. Katie Adamek & Sarah Bardin & So O'Neil & Dara Lee Luca, "undated". "Accelerating Teen Pregnancy Prevention in Phillips County, Arkansas and Coahoma County, Mississippi," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 7fda86cbb1bf4303a84f466e8, Mathematica Policy Research.
    11. Jeffrey Clemens & Michael R. Strain, 2023. "How important are minimum wage increases in increasing the wages of minimum wage workers?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(4), pages 594-612, October.
    12. Michael A. Flynn & Pietra Check & Andrea L. Steege & Jacqueline M. Sivén & Laura N. Syron, 2021. "Health Equity and a Paradigm Shift in Occupational Safety and Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, December.
    13. Kaori Fujishiro & Franziska Koessler, 2020. "Comparing self-reported and O*NET-based assessments of job control as predictors of self-rated health for non-Hispanic whites and racial/ethnic minorities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Price V. Fishback & Andrew J. Seltzer, 2021. "The Rise of American Minimum Wages, 1912–1968," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 73-96, Winter.
    15. Grdenić, Goran & Delimar, Marko & Robić, Slavica, 2020. "Framing the context of energy poverty in Croatia: A case-study from Zagreb," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    16. Rita Ferreira Gomes & Beatriz Casais, 2018. "Feelings generated by threat appeals in social marketing: text and emoji analysis of user reactions to anorexia nervosa campaigns in social media," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 15(4), pages 591-607, December.
    17. Amel Omari & Miriam R. Siegel & Carissa M. Rocheleau & Kaori Fujishiro & Kristen Van Buren & Dallas Shi & A.J. Agopian & Suzanne M. Gilboa & Paul A. Romitti, 2024. "Multiple Job Holding, Job Changes, and Associations with Gestational Diabetes and Pregnancy-Related Hypertension in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(5), pages 1-13, May.
    18. Sean Lucan & Nandita Mitra, 2012. "Perceptions of the food environment are associated with fast-food (not fruit-and-vegetable) consumption: findings from multi-level models," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(3), pages 599-608, June.
    19. Michael R. Strain, 2021. "An Argument Against The $15 Minimum Wage," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 1289-1297, September.
    20. Preethi Pratap & Alison Dickson & Marsha Love & Joe Zanoni & Caitlin Donato & Michael A. Flynn & Paul A. Schulte, 2021. "Public Health Impacts of Underemployment and Unemployment in the United States: Exploring Perceptions, Gaps and Opportunities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-25, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10378-:d:648701. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.