5. Texas Roadhouse aims to increase labor costs
Ever the contrarian, Texas Roadhouse alerted investors this month that it feels no imperative to check rising labor costs, as virtually every other chain is striving to do.
“As a matter of fact, we're actually challenging our operators on how well they're staffed,” said President Scott Colosi. “We're asking them, maybe they should staff with more people.”
If a server has to handle only two or three tables, maybe he or she could talk to the guests instead of dashing around, he explained.
More staff would also provide more flexibility and options when someone wants to take time off, and that’s a big advantage in recruiting the best people, Colosi suggested.
“So sometimes hiring more people, which [means] more training cost and so forth added to that labor line, makes it stronger in the long term,” he said.