Explore the top 3 restaurant hiring trends for 2025: more job openings, the rise of AI in recruitment, and a surge in candidates seeking management roles.
︱
January 15, 2025
New year, new…hiring trends?
Amidst the resolutions and revelations that 2025 may bring, one thing’s for certain.
Restaurant hiring is moving quickly and tirelessly, and unless you’re staying ahead of the curve, you’ll get left behind.
Today, we’ll be diving into top trends and actionable strategies in restaurant hiring in 2025 to make sure that this year is your best one yet.
PS: Make sure you read to the end for an exclusive interview with an expert General Manager from Five Guys!
While job opportunities in the restaurant industry took a steep nosedive during the pandemic, restaurant hiring is currently on the up and up.
Per the National Restaurant Association, 172,500 new restaurant and bar jobs were added in 2024.
While this was a decrease from the 309,000 jobs added in 2023, the total number of restaurant job openings continues to trend above pre-pandemic levels.
Nation’s Restaurant News writes that “the industry is now about 1.4% above its February 2020 employment peak, equating to about 173,000 jobs above pre-pandemic levels.”
It’s worth noting that these numbers aren’t evenly distributed across all segments of the food service industry. Full service restaurants, which experienced the greatest employment dip during the pandemic, continue to trend 212,000 jobs below pre-pandemic numbers.
Other sectors who have yet to recover their pre-pandemic job counts include cafeterias and buffets.
On the flipside, job openings at quick service restaurants, fast casual restaurants, bars, and taverns are trending higher than their pre-2020 numbers.
The growing number of open restaurant positions has created a competitive hiring landscape.
In order to stand out and secure top quality talent, try the following tactics:
The advent of AI is here, and it’s here to stay.
And as more and more people begin to use Chat GPT and other AI-powered tools in their daily lives, it’s no wonder that it’s slowly becoming more heavily utilized in the workplace.
In the restaurant industry, specifically, “37% of operators plan to invest in automated labor management recruitment/scheduling systems in 2024” (National Restaurant Association’s 2024 Restaurant Technology Landscape Report).
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, co-founder Eugene Remm of multi-unit icon Catch Hospitality Group, shared:
“The bigger conversation is on efficiency. Ultimately, all restaurants are going to have to work with a better efficiency model, which means doing more with less…I think you really have to focus a lot on technology. So you talk about AI, and how that changes a lot of the dynamics.”
While hospitality purists may resist the rising tides of technology, leveraging new tools doesn’t mean detracting from the human element of the service experience.
Remm continues:
“Technology is just a supplement for the team. It doesn’t replace the team. Ultimately, if you don’t have a great team you’re not going to have great gas, and then you’re not going to make the money you need to make.”
It’s an important distinction to make.
Technology is a tool to help your business cut down on repetitive manual tasks.
What is it not?
A replacement for a high quality team that interacts with your guests and creates memorable experiences.
Start by writing out the areas of the hiring process that take the most time.
Chances are, you’ll find that these are manual, repetitive tasks: candidate sourcing, resume vetting, and scheduling interviews, for example.
Once you’ve clarified these areas, you can explore ways to invite technology into your process to save time and manual effort.
Here are a few ideas:
While it’s certainly possible to build your own AI tools and chat bot flows, 2025 is not the year to waste time.
Our team of experts is working with 500+ industry-leading brands like Tao Group Hospitality, Erewhon, KFC, and Another Broken Egg Cafe to provide end-to-end AI-powered hiring support, and they’re ready to help you too.
Click here for a free 30-minute consultation call with our team.
.png)
Recently, the LANDED team spoke with Ulrich Kogda, General Manager at Five Guys in New York City, who shared about an increase in applicants with leadership goals in mind.
"There are a lot of people who are understanding the potential in fast food and want to become managers and leaders, and eventually run their own stores. In 2025, we’ll be getting a lot of candidates who want to have leadership roles.”
This increasing emphasis and ambition towards managerial positions is a departure from what Kogda has seen in the past.
“Previously, people were coming in who just wanted to be crew members, dishwashers. Now, it’s switched over, and we’re seeing lots of applicants express that they want to learn and they want to grow.”
When asked how he encourages new–and existing–hires towards the career trajectories that they aim for, Kogda responded:
“Whether you’ve been here for five months or you’ve just started, I like to put everybody on the same level and encourage them to be curious, be respectful, and have a positive attitude towards everything. The admin stuff is secondary, those are skills that you learn. But personality and attitude – those aren’t things you can teach, they depend on you as an individual.”
When it comes to the most crucial aspects of being a restaurant leader, Kogda solidified the importance of remaining calm and collected, and to always focus on human connection.
“This is a people business, and you have to have a positive attitude no matter how many times a customer or employee may try to poke you. In order to grow in your career, you have to understand that those around you are always going to have their own emotions and feelings. You have to learn how to stay composed and react appropriately.”
A spike in ambitious applicants is ultimately a great thing for your restaurant, especially if you’re able to invest time and energy into helping them achieve career milestones.
By hiring candidates who will grow with your company, you’ll boost retention and create a team of top performers who are invested in your brand’s success in the long term.
To attract and nurture applicants with managerial goals in mind, try these strategies:
Keeping these trends and tips in mind will help you hire a top-performing team for your restaurant in 2025.
But as the applications begin to roll in, you may find yourself feeling swamped and overwhelmed with tedious manual admin tasks.
LANDED’s end-to-end hiring solution saves managers time and money by leveraging advanced generative AI to automate routine tasks.
Ready to build your dream team? Connect with us today and let LANDED help you streamline your hiring process, so you can focus on what truly matters—running a successful restaurant in 2025 and beyond.
