Virginia Tech's Dining Services wage increase, one semester later
At the beginning of 2022, Dining Services at VT began paying $15.00 an hour wages, now one semester later, the response to the change is very positive.
Gabriel Philipsen - Apr. 18, 2022
Blacksburg, Va., Apr. 17 - Deserts: Employees at D2 watch as students select food from a buffet.
Photo: Gabriel Philipsen
In January of 2022, Virginia Tech implemented a $15.00 an hour wage for workers in their dining services program. As the spring semester begins its end, it’s worthwhile to view how the change is received among both workers and students.
“The main thing was for us to increase applications,” said Brian Grove, Senior Associate Director of Dining Services at Virginia Tech. “Hopefully that pay rate still encourages students to come and be a part of our team.”
Following a shortage of applications and needing to fulfill student demand, dining services raised wages to attract new employees. This pay increase brought an estimated 1200 new employees into dining services, a majority of them being students at Virginia Tech.
The wage increase lets employees to be flexible in their spending habits and worry less regarding paying bills. The increase allows students to earn money that can be used to pay off the tuition fees.
Grove said that dining services viewed the pay rates of other companies in the New River Valley area to guide their decision for a sustainable and competitive wage for its employees. According to the Virginia Legislative Information System Website, The Commonwealth of Virginia has a plan in place to have the state minimum wage reach $15.00 an hour by 2026, though the wage is at $11.00 an hour currently.
There have been some repercussions from the change. The pay increase resulted in prices for dining services plans for students increasing by upwards of $100 or more for all plans. The most common meal plan had a $187 increase from the Fall 2021 semester to the Spring 2022 semester. Prices of individual menu items also increased.
“Everyone was very relieved that it was increased, there was a lot of people that was on the verge of quitting, there was a lot of people who joined simply because of the pay increase and that kept those people from quitting as well,” said Joshua White, a former dining services employee.
The change has been received positively by the community, and dining services hopes it can attract more employees for the upcoming Fall semester.
