The sharp downturn reflects challenges on the larger job market, which showed a hiring slump for all non-farm industries with an unexpected net decline of 23,000 jobs in July, though the national unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.1% as people continue to leave the workforce.
The restaurant industry appears to be having a slow summer, after eating and drinking places added 24,600 jobs in May compared to a more modest 9,200 jobs added in April.
Foodservice had by far the steepest drop in employment for non-government industries, with retail and recreation not too far behind. The double-digit restaurant industry job losses accelerated the surprising hiring slump nationally.
“Restaurants tend to feel labor cracks before other industries do, and this report isn’t reassuring,” said Steve Demchuk, chief product officer for tech supplier Restaurant365. “Hospitality has absorbed a disproportionate share of the losses, meaning the same guests footing your checks are increasingly the ones losing hours. Hiring has nearly stalled even as layoffs stay contained, leaving a guest who’s anxious but not gone, just pickier about which visit earns the spend.”
According to the National Restaurant Association, the softer foodservice hiring numbers are much closer to pre-pandemic levels of staffing. However, the full-service segment has yet to regain the staffing levels it had before March 2020, and six years after COVID-19, remains 183,000 jobs under pre-pandemic levels.
Article Appeared @https://www.nrn.com/restaurant-labor/restaurant-industry-jobs-declined-again-last-month