At least 5 workers at a Chipotle in Austin, Texas, gave up on their jobs at the end of a shift after working under “impossible” conditions.
What are the details?
The group of five Chipotle employees who quit their jobs included a Chipotle general manager and a kitchen manager, according to Insider.
Peter Guerra had been employed at Chipotle for five years, and he had been a general manager during the past six months at the Scofield Farms Chipotle location in Austin, Texas.
"My store was severely understaffed. We struggled just to keep our heads above water," with almost no support from management, as Guerra shared with the outlet.
He revealed that his schedule was often 80 hours a week and that he was also required to work extra hours covering for gaps in staff after different employees quit.
Chipotle stores have two different lines for preparing food, one is for customers, and the second one is for digital orders. Several Chipotle workers previously told Insider that it was very challenging to keep up with the high rate at which online orders piled on.
Guerra said that having to serve so many customers at once added extreme pressure and that it felt like he was set to fail.
On November 13, as digital orders were coming all the time and the line of customers went all the way to the door, he felt he was close to breaking point.
Guerra said there just weren’t enough workers to meet the requests, so he closed the dining area to be able to focus exclusively on the online orders.
He recalled being “in tears” while thinking everything would start again the next day when he had only one worker scheduled to work a full shift. On that day he had to close the dining area too. He gave up on his job at the end of his shift on the next day.
"I thought, 'This is literally going to kill me if I keep it up,'" he shared.
James Williams, who was employed at the location as kitchen manager, also quit on the same day after a 16-hour shift. He pointed out that he was "stretched infinitely too thin" while trying to keep both the kitchen and the dining room under control.
He did appreciate the customers who were empathetic when he and Guerra had to close off the dining area.
"They could see the burnout on our faces," Guerra said about the customers who were waiting in line to get their online orders. As the orders continued to flood, Door Dash drivers were also very understanding and told the workers to take their time.
They cleaned up the store and left at 1 a.m.
"Everyone that didn't clock in the next day was assumed to have quit. It was a ghosting process,” Williams added.
Five workers confirmed with the outlet that they quit.
"The Parmer Lane location was temporarily closed on Monday due to available labor but reopened Tuesday with normal business hours. In a few minor instances, there have been challenges with available labor, so we made adjustments in these restaurants to temporarily accommodate the needs of the business," a Chipotle spokesperson stated.