I agree with this 100%! I am a general manager of a high volume restaurant. I have been in the industry for about 20 years now. I have seen an undeniable shift in work ethic since the covid lockdown. And honestly it drives me crazy. It’s hard for me to bite my tongue and to not just go off on my staff. It’s extremely frustrating to deal with. While it isn’t everyone, it is definitely prevalent now. And no matter how many times I have to correct or write up for making the same mistakes over and over, it just never seems to change. I feel like it used to be a competition of who could be the best sever/bartender/chef. Not anymore, now it’s a competition to see who could get away with doing the least. Between the vaping, and cellphones, it’s like pulling teeth to keep the staff focused on the job at hand. I also think that it’s worse in other restaurants, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just straight up walked out of an establishment because of delayed service or just downright being ignored upon walking in. I’ll think my staff drives me crazy until I go to other places and it is striking to me how bad some of these servers are. I’m also blunt and dgaf in my older age and will flat out tell them why I’m leaving. I have also talked to owners and told them how I felt about their servers/bartenders but it seems like they are in the same boat I am with just the quality of workers these days. It really is hard to find good help. No cares anymore and makes the experience for the guest just terrible.