Jobs & Careers

Two National Restaurant Association board members have begun their mission to tour the U.S. Air Force's global foodservice operations in preparation for the 2012 John L. Hennessy and Major Gen. W.P.T. Hill Awards ceremony in May.

This year's two Hennessy travelers -- David Stockman, senior vice president of operations for Lawry's Restaurant Inc., and Jeff Berlind of BP Partners in Pound Ridge, N.Y. -- are visiting six to eight military bases around the world to evaluate and determine this year's potential award winners.

In his latest commentary, the National Restaurant Association's chief economist Bruce Grindy breaks down the January jobs report.  The economy added nearly a quarter-million jobs in January, and the jobless rate fell to a three-year low.  In addition, the restaurant industry continued its steady growth, adding more than 300,000 jobs in the last 12 months. 

The national economy got off to a solid start in 2012, according to the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  The economy added 243,000 jobs in January, the third consecutive monthly acceleration and strongest gain since April 2011. 

The private sector continued to drive growth with an increase of 257,000 jobs in January, the 23rd consecutive gain and strongest performance in nine months.  In contrast, the public sector remained a modest drag on the economy, shedding 14,000 jobs in January.

Ted Fowler, president and CEO of Golden Corral, the Raleigh, N.C.-based grill-buffet chain, has been appointed 2012 chair of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's ProStart Initiative Cabinet.

Fowler, who assumed the chairmanship from Carlton Curtis, vice president of industry relations for the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., will be tasked with raising funds to benefit ProStart, the NRAEF's two-year program that teaches high-school students the management skills and culinary techniques needed to forward their careers in the restaurant industry. As the 2011 chair, Curtis achieved great success raising unprecedented funds to grow and enhance the program at the national and state level, the foundation said.

Fowler, a member of the NRAEF's Board of Trustees since 2002, said he is excited to raise the funds needed to grow ProStart's reach and accessibility across the country.

Despite sluggish recovery by the nation’s economy, the restaurant industry is projected to expand in 2012, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast released today.

Total restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record high of $632 billion in 2012 – a 3.5 percent increase over 2011. In addition, overall restaurant industry employment will reach 12.9 million in 2012, representing 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce.

“As our nation slowly recovers from the economic downturn, restaurants continue to be a vital part of American lifestyles and our nation’s economy,” said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association.

Watch the National Restaurant Association's Senior Vice President of the Research and Knowledge Group Hudson Riehle summarize the 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast. The annual Forecast provides details on economic, workforce and consumer trends expected in the year ahead.

Also, read our blog posts on top economic and consumer trends in 2012.

The NRA is ramping up its requests for Congress to extend two tax provisions important to restaurant operators: the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and a 15-year depreciation schedule for restaurant spending on new construction and building improvements.

Four National Restaurant Association members were named to Fortune Magazine's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the second year in a row.

The companies are Darden Restaurants, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Marriott International and Starbucks Coffee.

The magazine determined its list by conducting a broad, random survey of employees. The survey sought employees' attitudes about their company's management, their job satisfaction and camaraderie. The magazine surveyed employees who worked at companies at least seven years old with at least 1,000 U.S. employees.

In a nod to its importance on the U.S. economy and relationship to the restaurant industry, President Obama, at an appearance last week at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., pledged his full support for the U.S. tourism and travel industry. He also named former National Restaurant Association chairman Michael C. Gibbons as one of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board's 32 new members.

Gibbons, president and CEO of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Mainstreet Ventures, which owns and operates fine-dining restaurants in five states, will help advise the Secretary of Commerce on government policies and programs that affect U.S. travel and tourism and provide counsel on current and emerging issues affecting that industry. One important area of focus will be working to increase hotel-room occupancies here in the United States, which ultimately will lead to job creation, he said.

"Filling hotel rooms ... helps the entire tourism and hospitality industry," Gibbons stated. "When hotels are busy, they hire staff; same with restaurants, theaters, retailers, etc. Job growth will help the economy and reduce the government's debt through increased revenue."

The U.S. Supreme Court this week refused to consider an appeal by Applebee's in a class-action case filed by more than 5,000 servers and bartenders over the company's tip-credit practices.

The National Restaurant Association, which had filed a brief supporting Applebee's petition to the Supreme Court to take the case, believes the court's refusal to hear the case will increase confusion over an impractical and bureaucratic Department of Labor interpretation of federal tip-credit law.

The servers and bartenders who filed the 2006 case allege that they spent more than 20 percent of their time performing work that didn't directly produce tips, such as cleaning tables and general prep work, and should have been paid the full minimum wage rate for that time.

The Supreme Court's refusal to take the case sends Applebee's International Inc. v. Gerald A. Fast, et al., back to a lower court to rule on the case's merits, including whether the Applebee's employees who filed the case spent more than 20 percent of their time on non-tip-producing duties.

Restaurant operators can help alert employees to tax credits that might put extra money in their pockets.

Many workers don't realize they qualify for the Earned Income or Child Tax credits. Nor do they know how to claim the credits or where to find free filing assistance.

The National Restaurant Association encourages members to educate employees and guests about the credits by marking EITC Awareness Day (Friday, Jan. 27).