Headwaiters turn to motorcycle couriers in COVID-19 era

The food and beverage sector, leading the service industry in Turkey with 2 million workers, has been knocked down as the restaurants and the cafes have been closed indefinitely due to the latest coronavirus measures.

Most restaurants have turned to takeouts, and loads of service workers have been dismissed, according to experts.

"This is a business with annual revenue of 135 billion Turkish Liras. In just two days, the sector has incurred a loss of 740 million liras," said the Turkish Restaurant and Entertainment Association (TURYID) in a written statement.

"Two million laborers have been stripped off 74 million liras of tips," according to the statement.

Underlining the way food businesses are changing amid the ongoing pandemic, Hakan Yenidoğan, who has been serving in this industry for 18 years, said: "We have never served as takeouts or carry-outs before. Now in this period, things have changed. I was a headwaiter in the restaurant, but now I am a motorcycle courier carrying out food to houses."

"I cannot recall of times like these to have happened before. We used to work with 35 people in the restaurant. Now we try to carry on with four," Fatih Özcan said, another headwaiter who has been in the business for 19 years.

On the side of the employers, things are the same, according to Bülent Şenel, owner of a fish tavern.

"We now sell fish sandwiches in front of the shop. Everyone in the shop, including me, clean the fish or service food to the houses," said Şenel.

A business owner of the Sunset Bar and Grill restaurant in Istanbul, Barış Tansever, noted that they had fire most of their workers.

"Around 125 people used to work here. Now we have only five of them - two sushi chefs, a cashier and two...