A pizza chain owner says there needs to be higher wages and more empathy offered to workers in the restaurant sector

The owner of a pizza chain is not worried about the labor shortage in the US.

The CEO of a pizza chain in Washington, DC, told Insider that the real problem facing the US is a lack of imagination.

Lastoria said that the shortage of imagination was the inability to diagnose and cure the root cause of the labor shortage.

To frame it as a labor shortage ignores the realities of our industry.

According to Lastoria, the restaurant industry has remained unsolved for decades because of issues highlighted by the Pandemic. Low wages, lack of benefits, dangerous working conditions, and the tendency of firing and re-hiring staff when convenient for employers are some of the problems.

The status quo is not working and we need new solutions. He said that business owners who don't know that workers need higher salaries will be left behind.

Lastoria said that they are seeing that play out now.

A 40-year-old woman quit her job as a technical services librarian because of its toxic environment, limited advancement opportunities, and poor policies for working parents.

She quit because she wasn't allowed to work remotely.

According to Lastoria, there is almost no sign of a labor shortage at &pizza. The CEO said that people are eager to work at the chain because of the culture and basic respect for their humanity.

The company opened 18 new locations last year and plans to open 35 more this year.

In order to truly invest in what it means to be a good employer, you have to involve your workers in the conversation in a meaningful way.

You have to understand what it's like to be onboarded, what it's like to be trained and to work a busy shift. If you aren't on the floor, you don't know what the hourly workforce needs.

Employers are learning that they have lost leverage in the current economy. According to Lastoria, if they aren't rethinking their business relationship to labor, they will find themselves without people willing to work for them.

He said that this is aninflection point in the industry where it no longer matters if they think it is the right thing to do.

The movement towards better pay and working conditions has amplified so much that owners cannot ignore it. He said that it was a large group of people talking and getting support.

Apple and McDonald's have offered better wages and benefits to tackle staffing problems, as a result of these discussions.

Lastoria spoke out about pay issues in the restaurant industry. He talked about his determination to pay a decent wage in an interview with Insider last year.

Ensuring that workers are paid a proper living wage and treated with dignity and respect is the best way to end the chaos and disruption in the US labor market.