by Bob Gershberg, CEO/Managing Partner, Wray Executive Search
When I was a young lad in elementary school, they told us when we grew up, we wouldn’t have to work five days a week like our daddies. Three or four would be the norm. They lied! Those of us who went into the restaurant business found six day workweeks to be the standard. During the Industrial Revolution, six day workweeks, 80 – 100 hours per week were commonplace in the manufacturing world. The labor movement was born and the ultimate passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 required overtime pay beyond 44 hours per week. The Act was amended in 1940 to create the 40 hour workweek, five eight-hour days and has remained U.S. law ever since.
Fast forward 80 years, a life changing pandemic and now a push for a 32 hour workweek. Discussion of codifying a 4 day workweek has ensued. Americans were thought to be worshipers of work. In many cases we derived both self-worth and net worth from our work. Over the past couple of years, companies and governments around the world have become more open to the possibility that a four-day workweek could be better for businesses and the people who make them run. Before the pandemic, Microsoft Japan and Shake Shack tried the schedule out with some employees, with positive results. Unilever’s New Zealand offices recently completed a four-day experiment, the results of which could affect the schedules of the company’s 155,000 employees worldwide. They have expanded the study to Australia. The governments of Spain and Scotland are planning trials that would subsidize employers that give workers an additional day off, and politicians in Japan and New Zealand have spoken favorably of the idea of a shorter workweek.
by John Gordon, Principal and Founder, Pacific Management Consulting Group
Time for thoughtful planning and execution ahead.
The industry has made it successfully into mid-September, seasonally the second slowest point of the year. Cable TV is full of QSR brands running discount-oriented offers (Dominos Pepperoni Bread, for example), and others that are in a much stronger position like Olive Garden have a TV flight featuring “more”, a benefit of Olive Garden. The industry is struggling with guests who haven’t come back from the Pandemic break, inflation, too much unit growth (see below), and more.
Several macro-econometric developments are converging this fall that we all need to be aware of for better planning. This is not a call for more discounting, which is the industry’s usual quick-term reaction. The restaurant industry is resilient, and the progress we have made since the Pandemic is amazing. But, for us, it seems like there is “one more banana peel after another” on the road ahead.
"The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them."
-John Maxwell
Automations Potential Effect on Job Displacement and Employment Stability
by Ray Kelley, SVP & Partner, Wray Executive Search
Automation continues to grow throughout all aspects of the restaurant industry. While these innovations promise greater efficiency, speed, and accuracy, they also cast a shadow of uncertainty over the employment stability of restaurant workers. Let’s take a closer look at some specific areas of benefit, but also potential alarm, for restaurant workers.
The Rise of Automation Technologies
Automation technologies have grown throughout various aspects of the restaurant business, from the kitchen to the front of house. Automated cooking systems, robotic chefs, self-order kiosks, and AI-driven customer service chatbots are becoming commonplace. These innovations offer undeniable advantages, such as faster service, reduced errors, and streamlined operations. However, they also raise pressing questions about the fate of human workers.
The Consumer Price Index rose 3.7% in August, according to a report released this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was a 0.6% uptick from the month prior, the biggest monthly jump since June 2022 driven by higher energy prices. It also marked the second monthly increase since July after 12 consecutive months of declines.
Read the latest on restaurant industry job growth from the National Restaurant Association
Restaurants added nearly 15k jobs in August
Although job openings remain elevated in historical terms, the number of monthly hires and separations are back down to pre-pandemic levels.
The restaurant industry continued to expand payrolls at a modest pace in August. Eating and drinking places* added a net 14,900 jobs in August on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
That was essentially on trend with the hiring pace of the April – July period, when payrolls expanded by an average of 15,000 jobs each month.
