Staffing

Why restaurants need a different labor playbook

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October 11, 2026 by John Dorer — CEO, eb3.work

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For years, restaurants have treated labor shortages as a hiring problem. When the applicant pool gets thin, the answer is usually to recruit harder or lean on managers to fill the holes until somebody new comes through the door.

But that only works if there are enough people out there to recruit.

An analysis from Indeed Hiring Lab suggests that may be the bigger problem now. The U.S. labor force has shrunk by roughly 700,000 workers so far in 2026. If that holds through the end of the year, it would be only the fifth annual contraction since 1948 and just the second outside a recession.

Indeed points to an aging population and a shrinking foreign-born workforce as two forces behind the decline. For restaurants, that should change the way the labor problem is viewed. This is no longer only about turnover or finding a better job ad. The pool itself may be getting smaller.

The old fixes have limits

Restaurants have been living with chronic turnover for so long that a certain amount of churn has become part of the operating model.

A dishwasher leaves, somebody from prep covers the vacancy, or a manager stays late, as the position gets posted again and again.
That may get you through the weekend, but it does not build much in the way of stability.

When the labor pool is growing, employers can sometimes get away with that approach because another group of applicants eventually arrives. When the labor force is shrinking, the revolving door gets harder to feed.

There is also a point where higher recruiting spend stops doing much. Another job board can put an opening in front of more people, but it cannot create workers who are not there. Technology can reduce some labor needs, but a restaurant still needs people in the kitchen and at the counter during the rush.

Keeping people matters more now

The first place operators should look is at the workforce they already have. Restaurants often spend much more time worrying about recruiting than asking why the same positions keep opening up.

Sometimes the answer is pay. In other cases, it is a schedule that changes so often an employee cannot plan around it. New hires also need enough training to feel like they know what they are doing before they get thrown into the middle of a busy shift.

There is also the question of where the job leads.

Someone washing dishes today may be willing to stay if there is a real path into prep. A strong cashier may want to know whether a shift-lead role is realistic six months from now. Those moves may seem small, but they give people a reason to see the job differently.
The goal is not to eliminate turnover. Restaurants will always have some. It is to stop losing people for reasons the business could have fixed.

Build the pipeline before the schedule breaks

Operators also need to recognize which jobs are always difficult to fill. If the same position has been a problem for the past two years, it probably should not be treated like a surprise every time it opens.

That means recruiting before the emergency. Local schools and workforce organizations can help, especially when restaurants are willing to show young people that foodservice can lead somewhere. Multi-unit operators can also look across locations and figure out why one store holds onto people better than another.

There is no single program that is going to solve this. The pipeline has to be built, not simply hoped for.

Where lawful immigration fits

Immigrant workers have long been part of the restaurant workforce, so the decline in the foreign-born labor force matters here too. Indeed found that foreign-born workers account for roughly 19% of the overall U.S. labor force and that their numbers have recently been declining year over year.

Lawful immigration is not a substitute for hiring locally or fixing retention problems, but there are restaurants with permanent, year-round jobs that remain difficult to fill even after repeated domestic recruiting. For some of those positions, EB-3 can be another workforce option.

The Other Workers category can apply to permanent, full-time jobs requiring less than two years of training or experience. Employers must first complete the required recruitment process and show that qualified U.S. workers are not available for the position.

That can make it relevant for certain back-of-house and support roles. It is not designed to fix next month's schedule. Its value is durability.

Restaurants are entering a labor market where one pipeline may no longer be enough. Domestic recruiting still matters. So does keeping good people once they are hired. Training and advancement need to be part of the picture, and for some employers, lawful immigration can add another long-term source of workers.

The restaurant industry has gotten very good at reacting to labor problems. If the labor force really is starting to shrink, the next few years may reward the operators who get better at planning before the problem reaches the schedule.

About John Dorer

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Headquartered in New York City, eb3.work has positioned itself as the premier solutions provider in tackling the United States’ persistent and growing shortage of unskilled and entry-level labor. Founded on the principle of streamlining the complexities of the U.S. immigration system, the company serves as a crucial bridge between employers in need of labor and foreign nationals seeking lawful employment in the United States.

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