by Bob Gershberg, CEO/Managing Partner Wray Executive Search
As we exit what may have been one of the more disruptive periods in recent business history, we are well advised to pay attention to the trends that have moved ahead at lightning speed. The pandemic did not change the future, it accelerated it. In a recent study from McKinsey & Company: “The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that more than 20 percent of the global workforce could work the majority of its time away from the office—and be just as effective.” McKinsey estimates that 20 to 25 percent of the workforce could work from home three to five days per week without any loss to productivity. It is 40 percent if you look at those who could work from home at least one day a week. That is not to say we’ll spend the rest of our professional lives on Zoom. Moving forward, most business leaders anticipate a hybrid in-office/WFH model that prioritizes flexibility over mandatory physical attendance. And yet we are all moving so fast that we do not slow down to notice this is an enormous cultural shift.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
– T.S. Eliot
Restaurants: Everything Relates to Everything Else
by John A. Gordon, Principal and Founder, Pacific Management Consulting Group
The restaurant industry continues to recover from the Pandemic Year. Looking back over history, while there were all kinds of signs of an over development and easy money finance bubble, and too expensive rent cost bubble in place pre-March 2000. The industry overall was in pretty good shape then. All that changed in a few days in March 2020. But within weeks, aspects of the industry began showing signs of strength in the US with recovery in some segments within months. The US has fared better than some international markets due to its drive-thru penetration, rounds of stimulus, and vaccine advances. The March Biden stimulus was immediately successful in lifting restaurant sales, but it has likely worn off. Now, summer seasonality, travel, general reopening, and improved dining out confidence will be key. Parts of the industry have not recovered yet. And a lot of things are happening at once.
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by Steve Crichlow, Principal at Compass Restaurant Consulting & Research
According to the National Restaurant Association’s April 2021 Restaurant Jobs Report, eating and drinking places are 1.7 million jobs or 14% below pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, the NRA report stated that 84% of operators reported staffing levels below pre-Covid. Only 10% of operators reported being fully staffed. When operators were asked when they expected staffing levels to return to normal, 45% predicted within 6 months, 30% predicted 7-12 months, 15% predicted more than 1-year, and 10% predicted staffing levels will never return to normal.
Featuring Tony Lam: Shark Tank Winner, Human Connector, Foodie Techie, Serial Entrepreneur, Marketer, Investor, Mentor
By Rebecca Patt, SVP Development, Wray Executive Search
Serial entrepreneur and all-around dynamic human being Tony Lam is a first-generation American who was three months old when his family fled Vietnam on a harrowing boat journey during the fall of Saigon. Through a Catholic Charities initiative, his family was taken in by an American family in Southern California for a few years and then relocated to the Bay Area.
Tony says he was an average student growing up and had to overcome racial prejudice. He went to Cal Poly SLO and graduated with a business degree, becoming a self-professed workaholic in the corporate world for Cisco for 15 years, saving up money to start a family. Wanting a bigger challenge, he decided to go off on his own to start the first of many entrepreneurial ventures.
“I wanted to be my own boss and control my own destiny. I knew if I had the passion and I put my mind to it, I would succeed. I knew I could prove the naysayers wrong without hesitation,” he said.
