Food Service Labor Force: Women in the Industry

Although women have historically been the ones to feed families, commercial food work was largely a man’s trade, due to the physical requirements of large-scale kitchen work. As equipment has been created to assist with heavy loads and large volume preparations, women have been able to increase their participation in commercial kitchens. At present, data indicate women hold more than 50 percent of food service positions. However, many remain at the lowest wage levels, in part, because of their need to accommodate relationships and family care responsibilities. Also, restaurant line work is not generally arranged as flex-time, not often designed to accommodate family needs, and therefore a difficult choice for women carrying other responsibilities. Some women choose different food work, which allows them better control of their schedules, such as catering, test kitchen recipe development, food styling, or personal chef positions, or they seek stable work hours taking jobs at larger institutions, which better suit their multiple responsibilities.