Free 2024 Report
What Restaurant Employees Want
Get inside the minds of 1,500 active restaurant employees:
Scroll down to preview key highlights!
Danny Meyer
Founder, Union Square Hospitality Group
1. Flexibility remains an advantage for hospitality
Restaurant workers have always operated outside the daily rigor of a 9-to-5 schedule, allowing them to live their lives outside of work.
"Why did you start working in the restaurant industry?"
Passion for food and hospitality
Job availability
Flexible hours
Potential for tips
Career growth opportunities
Other
2. Camaraderie is as important as getting paid
More than half of those surveyed listed “Financial incentives”— aka getting paid —among their top motivators. However, regarding motivation, coworkers and the team just edged out financial incentives, putting the team dynamic on par with getting paid regarding what drives restaurant workers.
Learn how to elevate your restaurant team and culture
3. Employees don’t leave restaurants—they leave managers
Nearly half of all employees who told us they've left a restaurant job before said they did so due to difficult management. When employees do leave, they are more often than not headed to another job in the restaurant industry.
Kwini Reed
Owner/Operator, Poppy & Seed
4. You can’t give too much recognition — or feedback
More than half of respondents rated “More recognition from management” as something that would increase their engagement at work. However, when we asked how often they currently receive feedback (either positive or constructive), a quarter of all employees said they rarely received any at all.
Discover what motivates restaurant employees to do their best work
5. Restaurant employees want the benefits of traditional 9-to-5
Restaurant work and benefits haven't historically gone hand in hand. However, as restaurants have become more demanding, the Conventional 9-to-5 job benefits like health insurance, paid sick days, vacation, retirement accounts, and more are table stakes.
6. Employees want in-person training—and quickly at that
The preferred length of training time is between 1 and 2 weeks, with 46.6 percent of respondents choosing that option. Some prefer shorter, with less than a week (at 38 percent). And a quarter just want to be thrown in the fire.
Chris Britt
Chief Operating Officer, EPIC Brands
7. Many employees see hospitality as a long-term career. And they need opportunities to grow
A lack of opportunities also drives employees away—24 percent of employees listed a “lack of opportunities” as a reason they've left a restaurant job. Around 75 percent of restaurant employees say that a clear career path and growth opportunities are either important or extremely important for job satisfaction.
