Restaurant owners are offering shorter workweeks, life insurance, mental health services, college tuition and more paths to career advancement. They are giving out free Spotify subscriptions, adding nursing stations for lactating employees, and promising signing bonuses and free food to anyone off the street who fills out an application.

Sandy Cheek has worked as a server and trainer for Crabby Bill’s in Pinellas County, Fla., for more than 30 years. She’s seen customers grow more impatient during the pandemic, and dozens of colleagues quit, leaving the staff chronically shorthanded. She’s been recruited by other restaurateurs, but she’s staying put because of higher pay and new benefits like life and health insurance. There are also sweet little pick-me-ups, like when the boss hired the Krazy Ice Cream truck to swing by.

“Perks like that make us feel like they appreciate us, that they are giving back to us,” she said. Her free salted caramel swirl, which she said was delicious, was hardly enough to cement her loyalty. But it has strengthened this feeling that the owners are going the extra mile. “I’m going to keep going,” she said.