This post brought to you by National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation . The content and opinions expressed below are that of upstartHR.

Over the past few weeks we have looked at competitive compensation, career paths, and work skills as they relate to careers in the restaurant field.

Today the focus will be on the value of a long term commitment to a career within the restaurant industry. Check out a few of the facts:

• Lifelong careers in the restaurant industry are not uncommon. 70% of restaurant employees plan to stay in industry until they retire.
• This is shown in the fact that the median tenure of restaurant management and business operations employees is 20 years in the industry.
• A job in the restaurant industry pays off: 71% of salaried restaurant managers, 50% of salaried shift/crew supervisors and 47% of salaried chefs/cooks earned a bonus in the past year.

In a time when many are worried about long term job stability, I think it’s a powerful testament to the long term value of these professions for 7 out of 10 employees to want to remain in the industry until retirement.

In addition, when many corporate employees are facing limited (if any) bonuses, the fact that 47-71% of restaurant employees received some bonus in recognition of their efforts is pretty astounding. The one that most stuck out from my point of view is the manager group receiving more bonuses than other staff–that’s yet another inspiration for the other employees to aspire to a higher level of leadership.

In the infograpic below titled “Dedication Pays Off,” you can see these and other statistics that prove the long term value of a career within the restaurant field.

Which one is most impactful for you?

This post brought to you by National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation . The content and opinions expressed below are that of upstartHR.

As we continue the discussion about the restaurant industry, we’ve seen some great content as far as jobs and career tracks. One of the first things people consider when looking at career options is the compensation. A few of the more common questions:

What will I make? Can I provide for my family? What about growth of pay over time?

As you can tell from the information below, the responses to those questions are definitely positive. The infographic below looks at some key areas around these questions, but the following points are especially pertinent:
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• The numbers are clear – there are very competitive wages available to employees of the restaurant industry. Chefs and cooks make a median base salary of $50,000, while restaurant managers make a median base salary of $47,000.
• Salaries in the industry are not stagnant. Entry-level employees receive a pay raise, on average, within six months of hire. About 70% of managers and shift/crew supervisors have received a raise within the past year.
• The industry goes beyond hourly pay; by mid-career, 57% of restaurant employees are salaried.

One of the stats that I’m particularly surprised by is the growth of wages over time, particularly the 70% figure for managers and supervisors. That is a prime example of the type of growth and opportunity available within the industry that might otherwise not be obvious to those unfamiliar with the restaurant field.

In the infographic titled “Do The Math” you can find some of the key areas that people want to learn about regarding restaurant career compensation.

So, what are your thoughts regarding compensation in the restaurant industry? Did anything in here surprise you?

This post brought to you by National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The content and opinions expressed below are that of upstartHR.

One of the areas we have focused on in previous weeks is how careers in the restaurant industry are more substantial than what they might appear on the surface. Today we’re going to look at career tracks specifically.

Here are a few of the key statistics from the infographic below.

• Your first job in the restaurant industry is only the beginning. The industry offers mobility, as more than 9 out of 10 restaurant employees 35 or older have advanced to a higher-paying job in the industry. 71% of those between 18 and 24 have also advanced to higher paying positions in the restaurant industry.
• Restaurant owners and operators climb the ladder to success as well. 55% of owners and operators worked in the industry as wait staff, 59% as a chef or cook and 84% as a restaurant manager.
• Most staff in the industry also see it as an industry of opportunity. A majority of waitstaff, bartenders, bus persons, chefs/cooks, shift/crew supervisors, managers and operations employees believe the restaurant industry offers opportunity for advancement.

Of all of these, my favorite is the second. Owners are typically seen as the top of the “food chain” (awful pun, but it’s true!) for the industry. But more often than not those owners are not strangers to the restaurant world–they are former employees!

That’s a powerful message for those working in the field, because it not only helps the owners to understand the roles of employees better, but it also gives employees a vision for what the future could look like for them if they aspire to achieve the same level of success.

In the infographic titled This Way to the American Dream below, you can see some of the ways the career path discucssion has played out for employees in the industry. What’s the most striking statistic you see?