Restaurant Industry’s Labor Shortages Made Worse By Demographic Trends

For an industry full of leaders long ago accustomed to handling staffing shortages, the past few years have but restauranteurs to the test. The next few will be no different. Long-running demographic trends colliding with the lingering effects of the pandemic have many feeling we are in the middle of one of the most difficult decades the industry has ever faced.

Restaurants were among the hardest hit by the pandemic, and among the slowest to recover. Health and safety protocols ensuring restaurants could open safely meant the industry faced a sloping recovery from a precipitously sharp drop. Customers were slow to return as well, as concerns about the pandemic kept many at home. As the industry began to get its feet back it immediately faced another unfortunate curve, the confluence of demographic trends. Beginning last year through 2027 4.1 million workers will retire annually, and there are not enough younger workers to replace them. If every unemployed worker found a job tomorrow…