4 entries. Source counts apply to each linked claim; a recipe ingredient can still have one source.
| Role | Unlock | Wage | Duties | Snag | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cook | Employee system (2025-11-03 update; after the main story in EA) | — | Cook up to three dishes (sweet/salty/spicy); queue repeats; uses kitchen pots | Slower than the player; uses more ingredients; can fail dishes | 2 sources Documented update: Let Her Cook! Checked 2026-11-09 |
| Waiter | 2025-12-16 update | — | Serve dishes, collect payments, keep tables clean | Can get stuck serving; low proficiency serves the wrong meal | 2 sources Documented update: Waiter, Cleaner, and Employee Management Checked 2026-11-09 |
| Cleaner | 2025-12-16 update | — | Clean floors and rooms | Can get stuck after one area; guest rooms may need manual cleaning | 2 sources Documented update: Waiter, Cleaner, and Employee Management Checked 2026-11-09 |
| Bartender | 2025-09-29 (after the main story) | — | Serve drinks, collect payments, clean the bar, refill the ice bucket | First preview; no salary or skills at launch | Official · 1 source Documented update: The Bartender Is on Duty! Checked 2026-11-09 Source links |
Who does what
News posts describe four roles. The cook picks three dishes (sweet, salty, spicy) and a repeat count. The waiter serves, takes payment, and clears tables. The cleaner sweeps and handles rooms. The bartender pours, takes payment, clears the bar, and adds ice. A Nov 2025 post talked about a plan for 32 employees, eight of each role. I have no later post that says the plan was filled.
Applicants marked ambitious or promising start with low stats and learn faster. Training spends a full work day and raises one attribute. They are off the floor that day, and wages still come out. The day after training, some players found the employee missing. That lines up with the “training eats the shift” note more often than with a vanished save.
When they refuse to work
A developer reply said an optimisation skipped waiter and cleaner animation, and the behaviour logic with it, when you were not looking at them. Cooks were called slow, hungry for ingredients, and able to fail a dish. Low-skill waiters serve the wrong plate. A cleaner can sweep one zone and then stick.
After the Act 3 update, older saves lost staff. The suggested recovery was to rehire at the board. The 1.0 notes say the board itself was not clickable during “In the Land of Yeast” and “The Scarlet Lady,” and that this was fixed. If the board is dead on a current build, check those two quest names before you blame the save. The place is the station board.
German-language steps for the same board are on Mitarbeiter einstellen.
Questions players actually ask
Can you hire employees?
Yes, after the story reaches the hiring updates. The board is at the station. A bartender preview arrived 29 Sep 2025, the cook on 3 Nov 2025, and waiter plus cleaner with wages and training on 16 Dec 2025.
What do they get paid?
Official posts do not publish a wage table. One player wrote about $6 a day. That stays a single report. Pay is daily, by left-clicking the employee and choosing Pay, or automatically from the office safe.
Sources
- Where are all the customers? — checked 2026-11-09
- Employee training? — checked 2026-11-09
- Cannot pay, train, or fire employees, but they work for free — checked 2026-11-09
- Steam news — employee updates — checked 2026-11-09
- Can’t hire employees? — checked 2026-11-09
- Staff idle after optimisation — checked 2026-11-09
- Employees lost after Act 3 — checked 2026-11-09