Federal workers are turning to D.C. restaurant jobs

Zoom in: Tail Up Goat and Reveler's Hour co-owner Jill Tyler tells Axios she recently received a wave of résumés that looked different from the usual applications coming through the hospitality hiring platform Culinary Agents — people with more foreign aid chops than front-of-house experience.

• "In some ways, restaurants are the safest job," says Tyler, who's hiring at both restaurants and welcomes career changers. "We've never really hired for experience, per se. We're looking for people who are kind and curious and want to go down the rabbit hole with us."

By the numbers: Unemployment claims are skyrocketing in D.C., according to U.S. Labor Department data, up 55% in the first six weeks of this year compared with last. And the job market is competitive.

A former government contractor, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern that speaking out could affect her future job prospects, tells Axios she was just laid off from her full-time career in education research because DOGE canceled all the contracts. She works as a server at a D.C. wine bar, where she started part-time when employed.

• She's now picking up as many shifts as possible while looking for private sector work, but "with the number and quality of people applying, they could pick a name out of a hat."

For many like her, even a full-time restaurant gig can't make up for the loss of a salaried career.

• "I've been very successful in my field. I thought I had incredible job security because our work — to make learning more effective — is popular across the aisle."
• She's worried she'll lose her new home. "I'd probably rather move somewhere with a lower cost of living, let go of my home, and focus on saving."

Reality check: The dozens of D.C. bars and restaurants that Axios reached out to — from big groups to small independents — say they haven't seen a flood of feds. It's more like a resume here or there.

• Even Tyler says it's nothing like the cutthroat job market during the 2008 recession, seeing lawyers jockey for bartending shifts.

Between the lines: Multiple restaurant owners tell Axios it's a slow and cautious time in the industry — thousands laid off doesn't bode well for restaurant spending, and even those with jobs are tightening purse strings. But Shawn Townsend, head of the Washington area's restaurant association, says that shouldn't dissuade people from looking.

• "We'll gladly hire folks who're interested. We employ about 65,000 workers, and many of them have other jobs; they're just in the industry to fill gaps in their finances."

Follow the money: Downtown restaurateurs who were looking forward to a back-to-office boost say that's been tempered by layoffs.

• "We thought 10,000 people would be flooding downtown. We didn't know that half of them would be fired," says Alicart CEO Jeffrey Bank, whose Penn Quarter restaurant Carmine's has "seen a little uptick in the dining room, but not as much as we hoped."
• Where there is buzz: the bar. "What you're getting in the District is a lot of uncertainty, and uncertainty paralyzes people — except for drinking."

Even if feds aren't looking for restaurant work, some are looking for work while in restaurants. "Happy hour, people are nervous and networking," says Bank. "Everyone is trying to network. I see people we've never seen before, and they're going to multiple happy hours.

• "It's 'What did you hear? What did you hear? What did you hear?' All day long."