Go Fund Bean wants to talk about wages. The non-profit organization created to support hourly coffee workers via grant programs, free educational services, and mental health initiatives wants to go deep on the state of wages for US-based coffee workers in all sectors of the industry. To do this, though, they need data and lots of it. That’s why they are conducting a national wage survey for coffee workers, and you can fill it out right now.
Borne out of the COVID-19 pandemic, GFB first came into existence as a collator and publicizer of various virtual tip jars from cafes around the country hoping to raise funds to pay staff while they were unable to work. Around the same time, there was a big wage transparency movement across the hospitality industry, with cafe, bar, and restaurant workers publicly sharing their pay rates. Now, three years later, GFB wants to see how wages have change and do so via one, centralized survey.
For this latest survey, GFB is expanding the sort of information to be collected an analyzed. Most notably, many of the citywide surveys last year didn’t include any information about race, gender, sexual orientation, etc, making it impossible to examine how being part of a minority group affected one’s pay rates. The survey will also ascertain job quality, seeking to find out how respondents feel about their current position: does it pay the bills, do they receive benefits, what their workload is like.
Once they have the data, GFB will compare wages to estimated living wages using MIT’s wage calculator, compare answers to those 2019 surveys to see how wages have changed, and ultimately help address any pay disparities they uncover.
Accepting answers now through December 31st, the GFB survey is open to all coffee professionals in the United States, both hourly and salary, those who work in the cafe, roastery, or office. The survey can be filled out anonymously and no personal information will be shared outside of GFB. Then in January, GFB will post the raw data (with all identifying information scrubbed), with analysis and finds to be shared shortly thereafter.
For more information or to fill out the national wage survey, visit Go Fund Bean’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.