The Restaurant Industry Is Losing Its Young Workforce
Photo Caption: 81 percent of survey respondents aged 16-29 said that their first job was in a restaurant.
Skift Take
Young people are increasingly interested in longterm restaurant career paths, but many still believe that the industry only offers mostly dead-end jobs. Figuring out how to change that perception and build a supportive work environment is going to make all the difference when it comes to filling open positions and decreasing turnover.
Young employees are a critical part of the restaurant industry workforce but there isn't enough being done to retain and encourage these all-important staff members, according to a new report published by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.
According to the National Restaurant Association, there are about 800,000 open jobs in the industry (an all-time high) and the industry is expected to add 1.6 million more jobs within the next ten years. In that same period, the pool of 16 to 24 year old employees, a demographic which makes up 40 percent of the industry's workforce, is expected to drop by 1.3 million people.
If staffing problems were a headache before, just wait until
