Labor issues have started to level off for restaurant operators. Specifically, only 32% of restaurant and foodservice operators said they don’t have enough employees to support existing customer demand, per a National Restaurant Association study entitled “Research Insight: Workforce Hiring and Staffing.” This is down 10% from 2024 and 56% from 2021.

In addition, when it comes to filling job openings, 26% said it was easier to fill open positions compared to 2024 and 41% said it was about the same. And 33% reported it was more difficult to fill open positions compared to 2024.

Looking at staffing levels, 16% of operators say they employed more people than 2024 and 49% said staffing levels were about the same as the previous year. Also, 35% said their staffing levels were lower than the previous year.

All that said, labor remains a key element in operators’ recipe for success. Nearly 8 in 10 short-staffed operators said it significantly limits their ability to grow and succeed.

“Understaffing is not a marginal inconvenience — it is a material drag on growth, service quality, and sales,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, chief economist at the National Restaurant Association. “Being short just one employee can cost a restaurant thousands of dollars in annual sales. The restaurants best positioned to grow are those that treat workforce decisions as a business imperative."

Along those lines, 62% of restaurant operators said recruiting and retaining employees was a very or fairly significant challenge for their businesses, the study found. New employees represent a short-term cost to the business before they begin generating net value for the business, according to the report. Hourly employees break even after an average of 31.8 days, while managers and salaried staff take an average of 72.2 days – often extending to 3 to 6 months for leadership roles.