Video by Cameron Wheeler
Multimedia by Kadija Osman
By Soofia Omari
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the jobs of countless students, but especially those working in the food service industry.
Restaurants throughout the Greater Toronto Area have been hit with closures and restrictions since the start of the pandemic.
On March 17, Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency and announced that all bars and restaurants are required to close unless they offer delivery or takeout.
Since then, the restrictions in place have been renewed nearly monthly.
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Food service workers who have managed to keep their jobs are taking big risks by serving strangers during the pandemic.
According to Eater, of those working in restaurants, servers and other front-of-house workers have the greatest risk of contracting COVID-19 by sharing indoor space with customers.
Samantha Dale, a fourth-year music student at the University of Toronto expressed how terrifying this can be for servers.
“I never really felt unsafe going into work before but now I wouldn’t really go to a restaurant and even eat for my own safety,” said Dale.
“It must be really scary and uncertain to have to go to work there every day.”
The restrictions imposed also make it hard for servers like Thais Despont, a recent post-secondary graduate to find work.
Despont, who moved to Canada from France in March felt it would be easy to find a waitressing job because she has experience in the industry.
Instead, she found that due to the pandemic, places were no longer hiring servers leaving her jobless.
According to a survey conducted by Statistics Canada, the youth unemployment rate sat at 23.1 per cent in August. By contrast, the rate was at 16.4 per cent during the 2008 recession.
The survey also reveals that youth employment in food services and accommodation was one of the hardest hit, down 24.6 per cent in August from last year.
Youth employment in other sectors had fully, or almost fully, recovered.
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