Difficulty in Recruiting Quick-Service Employees Hits All-Time High

The numbers are in. Quick-service restaurants are having a tough time finding employees—so tough, in fact, that their recruiting difficulties hit a historic high.

“We saw some pretty high recruiting difficulty in numbers across the board, hitting 100 in quick service,” said Michael Harms, executive director of operations at Dallas-based People Report, to Nation’s Restaurant News. “In our 10-year history, we’ve never had an index value hit 100. Every quick-service company that was surveyed said they were having more trouble finding employees.”

The People Report Workforce Index, which is based on surveys of restaurant industry human resources departments and recruiters, measures expected market pressure on restaurant employment. The Index, which started in 2006, has a baseline value of 50, with results above that level indicating increase pressure on five components: employment levels, recruiting difficulty, vacancies, employment expectations and turnover.

Results are based on expectations for the quarter currently underway. The second-quarter overall index hovered at 75.9, decreasing slightly from 76.4 in the first quarter. The result marked the eighth consecutive three-month period in which the reading was higher than 70.

The quick-service segment is not alone in its recruitment challenges. Casual-dining recruiting difficulty was 91 in the first-quarter of the Workforce Index, indicating that they’re struggling to staff locations as well.

“While the economy hasn’t exactly been robust, the economy has still grown. So we’ve been seeing the numbers compound. The sales statistics we compile indicate the industry isn’t a wildfire, but it has been in positive territory. We’re seeing that strain echo across the industry,” Harms said.