labor costs

Workforce

Labor issues are pressing the brakes on chains' expansion, study finds

The quality of potential hires is more of an issue than the quantity, the report from the International Franchise Association shows.

Workforce

Overtime costs surge for restaurants as fewer workers shoulder the workload

Employers are also finding that more hours are needed because new hires aren't as efficient.

Sales at its huge high-end restaurants are still only a fraction of what they were pre-pandemic, while galloping costs shrink the bottom line.

The emergency requirement was technically downgraded into a proposed rule, meaning it still could be adopted, but only through the usual prolonged process.

As the omicron variant continues to spread, everyone from small independent restaurants to McDonald’s either cut hours or reduced their services.

The year’s biggest story was an unprecedented lack of workers that left operators closing services, reducing hours and dramatically increasing pay.

Burgerville, the regional quick-service chain, found out through more than three years of negotiation with the union representing the staffs of five units. Here’s the agreement that was finally approved.

The Bottom Line: The labor force participation rate remains stubbornly low. The continued pandemic is likely to keep it that way for a while.

The combination of more inflation concerns and the variant sent restaurant stocks tumbling once again on Tuesday.

Jim Balis, managing director with CapitalSpring, says operators should try everything from artificial intelligence to cryptocurrency to help get workers.

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