Research
March 07, 2025
Total restaurant industry jobs
Restaurants cut 57k jobs during the first 2 months of 2025
Eating and drinking places* lost a net 27,500 jobs in February on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That followed a net decline of 29,500 jobs in January.
The 57,000 jobs lost during January and February represented the weakest 2-month stretch since November-December 2020, when the industry shed more than 450,000 jobs amid an increase in pandemic-related shutdowns.
The recent downtick in restaurant employment followed relatively healthy gains during the last 6 months of 2024. Eating and drinking places added a net 140,000 jobs during the second half of 2024, after remaining essentially flat during the first 6 months of the year.
It remains to be seen if the recent job losses were just a temporary blip that could be related to poor weather conditions, or the beginning of a sustained downturn.
Operator expectations for business conditions surged in November and December, before tailing off somewhat in January and February. Still, restaurant operators’ outlook for sales remains generally positive for the months ahead, which typically bodes well for job growth.
Although restaurant staffing levels remain above pre-pandemic readings, the recent job losses narrowed the gap significantly. As of February 2025, eating and drinking places were just 23,000 jobs (or 0.2%) above their February 2020 employment peak.
Fullservice segment down 249k jobs from pre-pandemic level
Within the restaurant industry, the limited-service segments continue to post the strongest job growth.
The coffee and snack segment has led the way throughout the recovery from pandemic-induced job losses. As of January 2025, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was nearly 162,000 jobs (or 20%) above February 2020 readings.
Employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were nearly 103,000 jobs (or 2.3%) above pre-pandemic levels.
Staffing levels at bars and taverns were 4,000 jobs (or 1%) above the pre-pandemic peak.
In contrast, fullservice restaurant employment levels were 249,000 jobs (or 4.4%) below pre-pandemic readings, as of January 2025.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so January 2025 is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
Although restaurant employment trended higher on the national level in 2024, job growth remained uneven across the states. As of December 2024, 22 states had fewer eating and drinking place jobs than they did in December 2019.
This group was led by Maryland, which had 8% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in December 2024 than it did in December 2019. Maine (-7%), Vermont (-6%), Louisiana (-6%), Oregon (-6%) and North Dakota (-6%) were also well below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
As of December 2024, eating and drinking place employment levels in 28 states and the District of Columbia were above their comparable pre-pandemic readings in December 2019. This group was led by Nevada (+13%), Utah (+11%), Montana (+11%) and Oklahoma (+11%).
View the latest employment data for every state.
[Note that the state-level analysis uses December 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
*Eating and drinking places are the primary component of the total restaurant and foodservice industry, providing jobs for roughly 80% of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of more than 15.7 million.
Track more economic indicators and read more analysis and commentary from the Association's economists.
The 57,000 jobs lost during January and February represented the weakest 2-month stretch since November-December 2020, when the industry shed more than 450,000 jobs amid an increase in pandemic-related shutdowns.
The recent downtick in restaurant employment followed relatively healthy gains during the last 6 months of 2024. Eating and drinking places added a net 140,000 jobs during the second half of 2024, after remaining essentially flat during the first 6 months of the year.
It remains to be seen if the recent job losses were just a temporary blip that could be related to poor weather conditions, or the beginning of a sustained downturn.
Operator expectations for business conditions surged in November and December, before tailing off somewhat in January and February. Still, restaurant operators’ outlook for sales remains generally positive for the months ahead, which typically bodes well for job growth.
Although restaurant staffing levels remain above pre-pandemic readings, the recent job losses narrowed the gap significantly. As of February 2025, eating and drinking places were just 23,000 jobs (or 0.2%) above their February 2020 employment peak.
Fullservice segment down 249k jobs from pre-pandemic level
Within the restaurant industry, the limited-service segments continue to post the strongest job growth.
The coffee and snack segment has led the way throughout the recovery from pandemic-induced job losses. As of January 2025, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was nearly 162,000 jobs (or 20%) above February 2020 readings.
Employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were nearly 103,000 jobs (or 2.3%) above pre-pandemic levels.
Staffing levels at bars and taverns were 4,000 jobs (or 1%) above the pre-pandemic peak.
In contrast, fullservice restaurant employment levels were 249,000 jobs (or 4.4%) below pre-pandemic readings, as of January 2025.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so January 2025 is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
Although restaurant employment trended higher on the national level in 2024, job growth remained uneven across the states. As of December 2024, 22 states had fewer eating and drinking place jobs than they did in December 2019.
This group was led by Maryland, which had 8% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in December 2024 than it did in December 2019. Maine (-7%), Vermont (-6%), Louisiana (-6%), Oregon (-6%) and North Dakota (-6%) were also well below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
As of December 2024, eating and drinking place employment levels in 28 states and the District of Columbia were above their comparable pre-pandemic readings in December 2019. This group was led by Nevada (+13%), Utah (+11%), Montana (+11%) and Oklahoma (+11%).
View the latest employment data for every state.
[Note that the state-level analysis uses December 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
*Eating and drinking places are the primary component of the total restaurant and foodservice industry, providing jobs for roughly 80% of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of more than 15.7 million.
Track more economic indicators and read more analysis and commentary from the Association's economists.