Restaurant Employment Is Rising Again — But Leadership Gaps Are Growing Faster

The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows encouraging momentum: restaurants added 36,500 jobs in September, the strongest month in half a year, and nearly 68,000 jobs in Q3 alone. The industry is on pace to surpass 100,000 new jobs in 2025, marking continued recovery across many segments.

But while the workforce is expanding, the leadership pipeline is not and that imbalance is becoming one of the most significant strategic risks facing restaurant companies today.

More units are opening. More staff are being hired. Demand remains healthy. Yet many organizations are running with leadership teams that were never designed to support today’s scale, pace, or complexity.

Job growth does not equal leadership capacity and companies that confuse the two put their expansion at risk.

Growth Creates Opportunity, But It Also Exposes Weakness

When brands expand, whether organically, through franchising, or via private equity investment, the first cracks never appear in hourly staffing. They appear in leadership:

• General Managers who cannot scale beyond single-unit execution

• District Managers stretched too thin across inconsistent markets

• Regional leaders lacking the operational discipline required for multi-state oversight

• VP and C-suite executives unprepared for digital transformation, margin pressures, or cultural evolution

• Founders relying on loyalty instead of capability

• Franchise systems growing faster than they can support

This is where growth either accelerates or stalls.

Because expansion magnifies whatever leadership you already have.

Strong leaders elevate performance, build culture, drive profitability, and support sustainable growth.
Weak or misaligned leaders create friction, inconsistency, turnover, and financial drag.

And the faster the growth, the more visible those weaknesses become.

Why Leadership Gaps Are Growing Faster Than Employment

Even with employment rebounding above pre-pandemic levels, the industry continues to experience:

1. A shortage of multi-unit and executive-level leaders

These roles require depth of judgment and experience that cannot be trained quickly.

2. Increased complexity in operations

Technology, customer expectations, labor laws, supply chain pressures, and unit economics demand more sophisticated leadership.

3. Accelerated expansion from PE-backed and emerging brands

Deals are being done faster than leadership can be sourced or developed.

4. Fragmented talent pools

The most effective leaders are already employed, not applying to postings.

5. High stakes

The difference between a strong GM/DO/VP and a mediocre one is now measured in EBITDA, not anecdotes.

This is the real story hiding beneath the job-growth headlines: there are more restaurants to run — but fewer leaders equipped to run them well.

The Leadership You Need Is Not Found on Job Boards

In a tightening talent market, companies often underestimate how difficult it is to identify and attract high-impact restaurant leaders—especially those capable of guiding expansion.

Here’s the reality:

• Top-performing executives are not looking for jobs

• Multi-unit leaders rarely respond to postings

• Many high-potential leaders left the industry during the pandemic

• Traditional recruiters do not understand restaurant economics or operational nuance

• Cultural fit is harder to assess in a high-growth environment

• Expansion roles require proven, not theoretical, leadership

A mis-hire at the executive or multi-unit level is not an inconvenience. It is a material setback to growth, culture, profitability, guest satisfaction, and franchise development.

This is why the most successful restaurant brands, both legacy and emerging, do not gamble on leadership hiring.

They use specialized executive search partners who understand the industry and know where to find leaders who have done it before.

Expansion Requires a Different Kind of Leader — And a Different Kind of Search

As organizations expand, they need leaders who can:

• Navigate unit growth without sacrificing standards

• Build systems and processes for consistency

• Drive financial performance while managing inflationary pressure

• Scale culture across markets

• Hire, develop, and retain talent

• Manage franchise relationships

• Interpret data and act on insights

• Influence cross-functional teams

• Operate strategically, not just tactically

These capabilities are rare. They are sharpened over decades and often reside in companies not actively advertising their talent. And they are almost never uncovered without deep industry networks.

This is the expertise specialized restaurant executive search firms bring: decades of relationships, market intelligence, judgment, and a clear understanding of what leadership looks like at scale.

The Bottom Line

The restaurant workforce is growing again but without the right leadership in place, growth can quickly outpace capability.

• New units won’t perform

• Turnover will rise

• Margins will compress

• Culture will erode

• Franchisees will feel unsupported

• Investors will question scalability

• Expansion will slow

The brands that continue to win in the next decade will not be the ones who simply hire the most employees.

They will be the ones who invest strategically in leadership capable of supporting growth.

Wray Search is the oldest executive search firm specializing in restaurant executive search. We know the talent and the talent knows us. Let us know how we can support your 2026 leadership team.