These Two Shifts Will Transform Restaurants in 2026

2025 was a year of upheaval in the restaurant industry, marked by rising costs, rapid technological advancements, a challenging labor market, and a consumer pullback on dining out – conditions that will likely continue in 2026. 

Unfortunately, the price of uncertainty is too often passed on to employees. According to Gallup, only 29 percent of hospitality workers report having quality jobs. Restaurant pay and schedules have gone from unpredictable to unsustainable, luring talented restaurant workers to gig jobs that offer the flexibility they need. On top of their primary jobs, they may be juggling school, caregiving responsibilities, healthcare needs, or a second job. They also want to feel fulfilled at work and see a clear path to career growth. When those needs aren’t met, they’re bound to go elsewhere. 

This workforce instability is hurting operations: failing to address employees' challenges negatively impacts the customer experience. Financially stressed, overworked employees are unable to provide a satisfactory customer experience, let alone an exceptional one. Moreover, as more employees leave, they take their institutional knowledge and skills with them, further reducing the quality of service.  As restaurants struggle to get customers through the door, a poor employee experience will hinder any progress they might make. 

The employee experience has become as important as the customer experience, and restaurants that focus on delivering tangible, measurable employee value will be the ones that succeed in the long run.  In 2026, restaurant operators will have to rethink the fundamentals of how they staff, schedule, and pay their teams. An inflexible workplace running on outdated systems and pay structures simply cannot provide the high-value environment needed to retain quality employees. 

The pursuit of employee value will precipitate two major shifts: the widespread adoption of earned wage access (EWA) and the evolution of AI as the foundation of restaurant labor management. 

Pay Flexibility as the Default

On-demand pay as you earn it, rather than waiting for a bi-weekly paycheck, used to be positioned as a perk – nice, but still novel. Now, it is one of the most sought-after benefits for restaurant employees. 

In 2026, it will be non-negotiable. 

It’s a sobering reality that many restaurant workers are struggling financially. To balance the rising costs of goods and equipment, some restaurants have cut employees’ wages or assigned them fewer hours, while consumers are also pulling back on tipping, resulting in unpredictable, insufficient pay. 

When employee wellbeing takes a hit, so does customer service. EWA is a powerful solution to improve the quality and stability of their pay: even if workers have a slow day for tips, they can still collect their earned wages soon after their shift. 

Unsurprisingly, on-demand pay is one of the primary factors that attracts restaurant workers to gig jobs. Not only can gig employees set their own hours, they can access their pay almost immediately after they earn it, providing a sense of financial security that’s crucial in an economic environment where three-quarters of employees are living paycheck to paycheck. 

Restaurants that offer EWA deliver the pay flexibility that today’s workers require to meet their needs, while also providing the camaraderie and professional growth that many gig jobs can’t compete with. 

AI as the Engine of Employee Value

At the close of 2025, the AI hype train has taken a sharp turn toward skepticism, with discussions of an AI bubble reaching a fever pitch and consumers becoming increasingly concerned about the technology. The sudden change may have restaurants anxious to implement AI in their operations if they have not done so already. While most restaurants have experimented with the technology, many are just beginning to fully operationalize it. 

Not all AI is created equal. However, when secure, intuitive, and enterprise-ready AI forms the foundation of restaurant labor management, it can radically enhance employee engagement and retention. In 2026, restaurant leaders will increasingly deploy AI to modernize scheduling, match shifts to employee preferences, and stabilize staffing amid demand fluctuations.

As Legion found in its 2025 State of the Hourly Workforce Report, restaurant managers spent more time on scheduling and administrative tasks than their counterparts in any other industry. However, only a small percentage of managers use AI-powered tools to automate and assist with these tasks. 

With legacy systems and analog paper scheduling methods, the onus is on managers to manually update employees’ shift preferences, puzzle out schedules and ensure everyone knows when their shift assignments. A single request to swap or change a shift can completely reshuffle the deck, creating more work for managers. By using AI to automate schedule creation and management, aligning projected demand with workers’ self-reported preferences, restaurants allow their managers to spend more time with their employees and guests and less time doing administrative tasks. 

For maximum flexibility, these tools also allow employees to easily swap and pick up shifts without a time-consuming manager approval process. This way, they have the freedom to accommodate their personal needs while the restaurant still has ample shift coverage. Employees get peace of mind and improved wellbeing, and restaurants maintain smooth operations. 

Shaping the Future, Today

Restaurants cannot provide a good experience for customers without first providing a good experience for employees. As these two major shifts toward EWA and AI-powered flexibility take place over the next year, the restaurants that get ahead of them will see the greatest gains in productivity and retention.