The optimal shift length for the resilient millennial chef

Abstract

The amount of millennial employees who are employed in the hospitality and tourism industry has increased significantly. The millennial generation does not endorse the same level of commitment and work ethic to their careers as previous generations. The millennial are more likely to develop mental health problems as they are often dissatisfied with the working conditions. The purpose of the study was to determine the optimal shift length for chefs between the ages of 25 and 39 to promote resilience. A quantitative research approach and a cross-sectional design was used. Two groups of chefs working various work shift lengths were identified. Shift length was dived into two categories: up to 8 hours and more than 8 hours. The Adult Resilience Measure (ARM-R) was used to measure resilience. There were 150 millennial chef participants who took part in this study. The study found that the millennial chefs who worked more than 8 hour shifts are less resilient than those who worked more than eight hour shifts. The results furthermore indicated that social skills play a significant role in a millennial chef’s levels of resilience. Social support and an eight hour or less work shift contributes to the resilience levels of millennial chefs and is therefore, and optimal shift length for resilience. This study serves as a guideline to provide advice to both restaurant managers and chefs on coping with stressors in the kitchen environment specifically post COVID-19 where longer working hours would be required.