Research
May 05, 2026
Restaurant Job Openings
Restaurant and lodging job openings remain solid even as the labor market cools
Job openings in the restaurant and lodging sector edged higher in the latest data, rising from a revised 818,000 in February to 831,000 in March. While figures from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) can be volatile month to month, overall demand for workers in the sector has remained steady. Over the past 15 months, job postings have averaged 856,000, signaling that accommodation and foodservice establishments are still seeking workers at a solid pace despite ongoing economic uncertainty.
At the same time, clear signs of labor market easing have emerged. From 2017 to 2019, job openings in foodservice and accommodations averaged 835,000 per month, putting the current level roughly in line with pre-pandemic norms. This suggests that postings have largely stabilized following the unusually elevated levels seen roughly three years ago.
Hiring activity improved in March as well. After softening in February, hires rebounded to 889,000, while separations rose to 818,000. As a result, net hiring—hires minus separations—totaled 71,000 for the month, a notable turnaround from a net loss of 32,000 jobs in February.
Looking at a longer horizon, hiring averaged 895,000 per month between 2017 and 2019, with separations averaging 875,000. Since the beginning of 2025, however, monthly averages have slipped to 798,000 hires and 784,000 separations—both well below pre-pandemic levels. Taken together, these trends are consistent with broader indicators pointing to a gradually softening labor market in the restaurant and lodging sector.
Recent data have been consistent with the transition from the “Great Resignation” prevalent a few years ago to the current “Great Stay” period, which has been closer to pre-pandemic trends. For comparison, quits averaged 4.22 million for nonfarm payrolls and 787,000 for restaurants and lodging in 2022, when the labor market was historically tight and businesses struggled to find sufficient workers. Over the past 15 months, quits averaged 3.16 million and 622,000, respectively.
With that said, the quit rate for accommodations and foodservices have been more elevated than one might expect during the “Great Stay” period. Workers do not typically quit their jobs during times of economic uncertainty, and yet, the quit rate in the sector has averaged a somewhat elevated 4.4% over the past 12 months, peaking out at 5.5% in June of last year.
For perspective, the labor market was considerably tighter in July 2022, when job openings outnumbered unemployed individuals by 2-to-1. At that time, there were just 49.7 unemployed workers for every 100 job openings, with a surplus of more than 5.84 million job postings relative to job seekers.
At the same time, clear signs of labor market easing have emerged. From 2017 to 2019, job openings in foodservice and accommodations averaged 835,000 per month, putting the current level roughly in line with pre-pandemic norms. This suggests that postings have largely stabilized following the unusually elevated levels seen roughly three years ago.
Hiring activity improved in March as well. After softening in February, hires rebounded to 889,000, while separations rose to 818,000. As a result, net hiring—hires minus separations—totaled 71,000 for the month, a notable turnaround from a net loss of 32,000 jobs in February.
Looking at a longer horizon, hiring averaged 895,000 per month between 2017 and 2019, with separations averaging 875,000. Since the beginning of 2025, however, monthly averages have slipped to 798,000 hires and 784,000 separations—both well below pre-pandemic levels. Taken together, these trends are consistent with broader indicators pointing to a gradually softening labor market in the restaurant and lodging sector.
Recent data have been consistent with the transition from the “Great Resignation” prevalent a few years ago to the current “Great Stay” period, which has been closer to pre-pandemic trends. For comparison, quits averaged 4.22 million for nonfarm payrolls and 787,000 for restaurants and lodging in 2022, when the labor market was historically tight and businesses struggled to find sufficient workers. Over the past 15 months, quits averaged 3.16 million and 622,000, respectively.
With that said, the quit rate for accommodations and foodservices have been more elevated than one might expect during the “Great Stay” period. Workers do not typically quit their jobs during times of economic uncertainty, and yet, the quit rate in the sector has averaged a somewhat elevated 4.4% over the past 12 months, peaking out at 5.5% in June of last year.
For perspective, the labor market was considerably tighter in July 2022, when job openings outnumbered unemployed individuals by 2-to-1. At that time, there were just 49.7 unemployed workers for every 100 job openings, with a surplus of more than 5.84 million job postings relative to job seekers.
