Manage Restaurant Wage Costs

Struggling with Rising Wage Costs? Here’s How to Manage your Restaurant Wage Cost

For many restaurant owners and managers, rising wage costs are becoming the single biggest threat to profitability. Minimum wage increases, staff shortages, and growing employee expectations mean labour often eats up 30–40% of revenue. At that level, even a busy restaurant can find itself operating on extremely tight margins.  See how you can manage restaurant wage costs in the article below.

Why Restaurants Struggle With Wage Costs

One of the biggest mistakes we see are operations cutting staff costs in the hope to save money. This strategy will send the business into a viscous circle which is extremely hard to get out of.  As a result of cutting staff costs, service quality suffers, staff turnover increases, and long-term costs grow. The smarter approach is to reduce wage costs as a percentage of sales by running a more efficient, profitable operation.

•Scheduling of staff on guesswork rather than thoughtful forecasts

•Overly complex menus that require more labour to execute

•Poorly organised work spaces and flows that create inefficiencies

•High staff turnover driving constant recruitment and training costs

•Inefficient systems and processes that slow down service

Sadly, these aren’t problems that solve themselves and much of the time because owners and managers are so invested in their businesses they fail to see where things are going wrong. A fresh perspective, data-driven analysis, and proven strategies that are tailored to your business are required to expedite the needed change.

What is the solution to high wage costs and how can Harris Restaurant Consultants help?

We work directly with operators to bring wage costs back into line without compromising service quality. Some of the key areas we focus on include:

•Labour forecasting: Aligning rotas with actual sales patterns so you’re never over- or under-staffed.

•Menu engineering: Streamlining menus to reduce prep and service time while increasing profit per dish.

•Operational efficiency: Reviewing service flow, kitchen layouts, and technology to help your team do more in less time.

•Revenue growth: Training staff on how to serve guests properly, upselling and menu knowledge all geared to lifting the average spend and reduce the wage percentage naturally.

•Retention strategies: Creating a workplace that attracts and keeps great people, cutting hidden turnover costs.

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Final Word

Wage costs aren’t going down any time soon. But with the right systems and strategies, you can take back control, protect your margins, and set your restaurant up for long-term success.

If you’re concerned about rising labour costs, let’s talk. A focused operational review can highlight immediate savings and build a roadmap to keep your business profitable in a challenging market.

Get in touch today to start reducing your wage cost percentage and maximising your restaurant’s potential.  Call Mark Harris on (0) 7930 474 472.