Whether they’re employing students working one summer at a time, or 9-to-5-ers who pick up bartending shifts for an extra paycheck, many restaurants are at a risk for high turnover rates. In fact, last year, the turnover rate in the hospitality sector exceeded 70 percent for the second consecutive year.
Not only does turnover cost money in hiring and training costs, but it puts a restaurant at risk of providing subpar service when staffers are at different levels of proficiency.
That’s why Upserve, a provider of restaurant POS, payments and analytics software, decided to dig into turnover stats as part of its inaugural restaurant industry report, analyzing millions of transactions from thousands of customers across the U.S. in Q3 of 2017.
Stop feeling like your restaurant has a revolving door by digging into data-backed insights:
Seasonality is the biggest culprit.
Weekly turnover rates increased from July to September on a weekly basis, likely signaling that students – who occupy an estimated 30% percent of seasonal restaurant jobs – are heading back to school.
“Stop feeling like your restaurant has a revolving door by digging into data-backed insights.”
Restaurant location can impact your staff.
For example – pay rates are highest in the West and lowest in the South – a gap that is likely to increase in 2018. And turnover is highest in the Northeast and Midwest.
Finding and keeping kitchen staff is a priority for restaurants in every region
The gap in base pay rates between positions revealed just how prized kitchen staff are in a tight labor market: Everyone is paying a competitive rate.
Base pay rate has little impact on turnover.
Surprisingly, in all seven categories of staff measured, there are little signs of correlation between a higher base pay and employee turnover.
Interested in the data behind these turnover statistics, plus even more? Or what menu trends are old news and which ones are poised to shine in 2018? Download the free industry report here.
