After decreasing numbers and labor frustrations lingering into this year, Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) shared encouraging data for the month of July: restaurant employment has increased.
It had been months of restaurants struggling to find and keep qualified and dedicated employees in all positions in their restaurant businesses, and researchers struggled to determine the exact cause of the prolonged labor crisis. But “according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report, …foodservices and drinking places added 13,400,” which was slightly above the previous two months’ worth of reports.
“Overall, the leisure and hospitality sector added just 17,000 positions in July, following average monthly gains of 67,000 in the first quarter. July’s numbers compared to 21,000 positions added in leisure and hospitality in June. The economy added 187,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate was 3.5% in July, down from 3.6% in June,” NRN reported further.
Restaurant industry experts are hopeful that this trend will continue through the end of the year, setting a stronger precedent for 2024. Along those same lines, “Michael Bailen, head of investor relations at Texas Roadhouse, said labor inflation is expected to moderate toward the end of this year,” which will also hopefully settle employment concerns.
Regardless of economic trends, staffing a restaurant should not be taken lightly. While restaurant jobs are sometimes excused as high turnover positions, at National Restaurant Consultants (NRC), our experts work with restaurant owner-operators to build teams of committed employees who want to keep their jobs. The key is company culture—so employees enjoy their work and want to stay—which bleeds into the customer experience—happy employees are dedicated to guest satisfaction.
“Attracting and retaining employees is one of the ten most critical business needs,” notes Richard Weil, principal and owner of NRC. “And staff retention is led by the owner and management team.”
As part of our consulting services, NRC offers high-level hiring and training for all restaurant staff positions, and especially for general managers, one of the most important positions when it comes to company culture and customer rapport. Working with our restaurant consultants is a sure-fire way to staff your restaurant business with the best people in the industry and to begin building a culture of high work ethic and morale that keeps employees around for the long-term.