Research
December 09, 2025
Restaurant Job Openings
Elevated restaurant job openings suggest a healthy demand for labor
Job openings in the hospitality sector ticked higher in recent months, which suggests that the demand for labor remains relatively solid. On the last business day of October, there were 986,000 job openings in the combined restaurants and accommodations sector, according to Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data from BLS.
That was essentially unchanged from August and September, when hospitality job openings averaged just over 1 million. The last 3 months represented an uptick in job openings compared to earlier in the year. During the first 7 months of 2025, there were roughly 880,000 hospitality job openings each month.
While job openings remained elevated in recent months, both hires and separations trended lower. There were 747,000 total separations in the restaurants and accommodations sector in October, according to BLS. That was down from a recent high of 892,000 separations in June and represented the lowest reading since March (708k).
Meanwhile, employers in the restaurants and accommodations sector filled 741,000 positions in October. That was down from the recent peak of 923,000 total hires in May and marked the lowest reading since February (711k).
The quit rate in the overall economy also trended steadily lower in recent months. The 2.94 million people quitting their jobs in October was the lowest level since August 2020.
Job openings have also converged with the number of active job seekers. When compared with the 7.6 million unemployed individuals in September (most current data available), it translates to roughly 99 unemployed workers for every 100 job openings.
This represents a normalization of labor market dynamics from the period immediately after the pandemic, when there were significantly more job openings than unemployed workers.
That was essentially unchanged from August and September, when hospitality job openings averaged just over 1 million. The last 3 months represented an uptick in job openings compared to earlier in the year. During the first 7 months of 2025, there were roughly 880,000 hospitality job openings each month.
While job openings remained elevated in recent months, both hires and separations trended lower. There were 747,000 total separations in the restaurants and accommodations sector in October, according to BLS. That was down from a recent high of 892,000 separations in June and represented the lowest reading since March (708k).
Meanwhile, employers in the restaurants and accommodations sector filled 741,000 positions in October. That was down from the recent peak of 923,000 total hires in May and marked the lowest reading since February (711k).
The quit rate in the overall economy also trended steadily lower in recent months. The 2.94 million people quitting their jobs in October was the lowest level since August 2020.
Job openings have also converged with the number of active job seekers. When compared with the 7.6 million unemployed individuals in September (most current data available), it translates to roughly 99 unemployed workers for every 100 job openings.
This represents a normalization of labor market dynamics from the period immediately after the pandemic, when there were significantly more job openings than unemployed workers.
