About 12.5 million people are employed at eating and drinking places in the United States. Combined with an additional 3.2 million foodservice jobs in other sectors such as healthcare, accommodations, education, food-and-beverage stores, and arts/entertainment/recreation, the overall foodservice industry is the nation’s second largest private sector employer (behind healthcare), constituting 15.7 million jobs — or about 10% of the total domestic workforce.
What does that workforce look like? According to a new data brief from the National Restaurant Association, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, foodservice employees tend to be younger and more diverse than the overall U.S. workforce. The industry employs more minority and female managers than any other sector in the economy, while foodservice employees are three times more likely to be under the age of 25.
Here’s a closer look at the industry’s workforce:
Race and ethnicity
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51% of the industry’s employees are minorities, compared to 41% of employees in the total labor force
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27% of the industry’s employees are Hispanic; 12% are Black or African American; and 7% are Asian
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66% of chefs and 62% of cooks are minorities — the highest proportions among the major restaurant occupation categories
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45% of managers are minorities — more than any other sector in the economy
Gender
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55% of foodservice employees are female versus 48% of the total U.S. labor force
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50% of managers and 57% of supervisors are female
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Women make up a majority of tipped positions in the industry — 69% of waitstaff and 59% of bartenders
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Women have a lower representation in the back-of-house, making up just 21% of chefs and 36% of cooks
Age
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Forty percent of foodservice employees are under the age of 25, while 60% are under the age of 35, versus the overall labor force with just 13% and 35%, respectively
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65% of food preparation and counter workers and 50% of waitstaff are under the age of 25
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Adults aged 55 and older have the highest representation in the manager (16%) and chef (17%) occupations
Other demographic information
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The restaurant industry employs a much higher proportion of single workers than the overall economy; 62% of restaurant and foodservice employees have never been married, versus 35% of employees in the total labor force
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Only 34% of industry employees are the heads of their household compared to 51% of employees in the total workforce; among the major restaurant occupation categories, bartenders (50%), managers (49%), chefs (46%), and supervisors (40%) are the most likely to be heads of their household
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27% of industry employees are enrolled in school compared to 10% of employees in the total workforce; 13% are 16-to-18-year-olds who are enrolled in school, while 9% are 19-to-22-year-olds enrolled in school
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22% of industry employees were born outside of the U.S., compared to 20% of employees in the total labor force. The top non-U.S. countries of birth for restaurant and foodservice employees are Mexico, China, and El Salvador
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Nearly 30% of industry employees speak a language other than English at home versus 24% overall
The association expects the industry’s workforce to reach 17.4 million by 2035.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
