Study: More diversity, opportunity in future workforce

Restaurants will seek more ways to recruit staff members, focus on enhancing more internal career opportunities and look to older employees to staff new and varied positions, new research from the National Restaurant Association has found.

According to Restaurant Industry 2020: A Snapshot of the Future, the industry will continue to be a bastion of entrepreneurialism and remain one where individuals can go from the dish room to the board room.

“Restaurants will continue to provide employment opportunities to a larger and diverse workforce, providing more structured career ladders that offer individuals of all backgrounds the opportunity for management and ownership,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the NRA’s Research & Knowledge Group.

Riehle added that the study, which relied on a panel of industry leaders and experts to analyze and identify various industry-related issues, further found that restaurants would attract additional mature workers by creating more flexibility in work schedules, as well as new responsibilities.

“This could be especially appealing to individuals who have completed their primary careers, but want to remain in the workforce for life-enrichment and other reasons,” Riehle said.

Restaurant Industry 2020 contains details on the most likely developments in workforce trends and a forecast of how workforce demographics will change over the next several years. Find more information about the report on the NRA's website - NRA members receive a 50-percent discount.