News

Restaurants to add 1.6M jobs by 2029

April 8, 2019

The restaurant industry will add 1.6 million restaurant jobs by 2029, and sales should hit $863 billion by the end of this year, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2019 State of the Restaurant Industry Report. 

"The restaurant industry is on a continued growth trajectory, driven by an expanding U.S. economy and positive consumer sentiment," NRA CEO Dawn Sweeney, said in a press release.

Restaurant operators were generally optimistic about business conditions. Roughly three in four operators gave ratings of "excellent" or "good" when asked to assess business conditions in the overall U.S. restaurant industry. However, operators were also acutely aware of competitive pressures, rising labor costs, a tighter labor market and a complex regulatory landscape that compounds pressure on business performance and revenue.

Off-premises and delivery options are a must have
Growing demand among consumers will make off-premises options important drivers across the industry in 2019. About 38% of U.S. adults — including 50% of millennials — indicated that they were more likely to have restaurant food delivered than they were two years ago. Other key takeaways surrounding off-premises and delivery include:

• Nearly four in 10 operators planned to invest more capital in expanding their off-premises business in 2019.
• Six in 10 family dining, casual dining and fast casual operators said takeout sales were higher than they were two years ago.
• A solid majority of casual-dining (72%), family-dining (63%) and fast casual operators (64%) said delivery sales were higher than they were two years ago. Fewer than one in 10 said delivery sales had declined. 

Technology will continue to boost business
 More than eight in 10 restaurant operators agreed that the use of technology in a restaurant provided a competitive advantage, and many were planning to ramp up their investments in technology in 2019. Specific technologies where operators will devote more investment and resources included:

• Front-of-house, customer servicing technologies such as online or app ordering, mobile payment, delivery management and reservations. About 70% of quick-service  operators planned to invest on these technologies.
• Back-of-house technologies such as point-of-sale, inventory and table management, customer-facing tech devices such as tablets, iPads, tableside ordering and kiosks.

"Consumer demand for greater convenience and speed will continue to accelerate, and restaurants are responding by adopting and incorporating more sophisticated layers of technology into day-to-day operations," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president, research and knowledge group, National Restaurant Association. "Operators across all restaurant segments will focus on building their business among millennials and younger consumers in the years ahead. To attract these digital natives we can expect the majority of operators to get creative in offering personalized incentives, deals, loyalty programs and rewards through various digital channels."
 
Additionally, operators planned to tap into technology to reach diners. A majority of operators in each of the industry's six major segments said they planned to devote more resources to both social-media and electronic marketing in 2019. And a majority of operators will devote more resources to customer-facing, service-based technology, such as online or app ordering, reservations, mobile payment or delivery management.

Job growth in restaurants remains positive
According to Association analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, restaurants have added jobs with annual incomes between $45,000 and $74,999 at a rate more than three times stronger than the overall economy. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of restaurant jobs in this income range jumped 71%. In comparison, the total number of jobs in the economy with incomes in this range rose just 21%. More than any other industry in the economy, the existence of multiple restaurants in nearly every community gives employees additional opportunities for upward mobility and career growth, according to the NRA.