Foodservice Industry Employs More than U.S. Armed Forces

"With 12.8 million workers, the restaurant industry is one of the largest employers in the country.  With national unemployment at 8.6 percent, it appears as if the restaurant industry is playing a hefty role in the U.S. labor market.  At a time when there are more people unemployed in the U.S. (13.9 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) then there are employees in the restaurant industry, brands need not worry about the supply of willing workers running low any time soon. 

During the better part of last decade, the median turnover for a quick-serve crew member was more than 100 percent on an annualized basis---meaning the average nonsupervisory employee at a quick-service restaurant left his or her job within a year. That number dropped to 85 percent in 2010, and it is at 80 percent so far in 2011.  The drop is an indication of the obvious--people with jobs are clinging to them at a time of high unemployment--rather than of a fundamental change in restaurant competitiveness in the labor market." --QSR Magazine