National Restaurant Association Research Insight: Workforce Hiring and Staffing

Why It Matters

Effective staffing directly impacts restaurant profitability and service quality, making strategic hiring essential for long‑term resilience. Leveraging technology to streamline workforce management can turn labor costs into a competitive advantage.

Key Takeaways

• Understaffing drags growth, harms service quality, and reduces sales
• Each missing employee can cost hundreds of dollars per shift
• Hiring ROI realized only when employees stay long enough
• Technology boosts ROI by freeing managers to focus on leadership

Pulse Analysis

The restaurant sector has seen the labor market settle after the 2021 Great Resignation, yet staffing remains a chronic pain point. Operators now receive a steadier flow of applicants, allowing a shift from rapid hiring to selective recruitment. However, the cost of a vacant seat is immediate, affecting service speed and guest satisfaction. As margins tighten, restaurants treat workforce decisions as strategic investments rather than short‑term expenses, recognizing that talent quality directly influences revenue and brand reputation.

National Restaurant Association’s new research quantifies the financial impact of hiring, revealing clear ROI thresholds and break‑even timelines for new hires. Understaffing can shave hundreds of dollars from each shift, while early turnover erodes the net positive value employees must generate to justify recruitment costs. The study shows that a single missing team member can depress sales and increase labor overhead, underscoring the need for retention‑focused strategies. By measuring these metrics, operators can align staffing levels with profit targets and avoid hidden drag on growth.

Technology emerges as the lever that turns staffing from a cost center into a profit accelerator. Sponsored by Workday, the report highlights how integrated HR platforms streamline onboarding, automate scheduling, and deliver data‑driven insights that free managers to coach rather than admin. These tools shorten time‑to‑productivity, lower turnover, and improve shift coverage, directly enhancing the ROI of each hire. As the industry embraces AI‑enabled workforce solutions, restaurants that embed technology into their hiring lifecycle are poised to achieve greater operational resilience and sustained growth.