As labor costs climb and staffing remains a challenge, restaurant operators are walking a tightrope: cut expenses without cutting corners on guest experience. In 2024, 88% of restaurant operators reported rising labor costs, and 79% expect those costs to keep climbing in 2025. With minimum wages set to rise in multiple states — including New York and California reaching $16.50 — operators are under more pressure than ever to optimize labor without hurting service quality.
But here’s the good news: cutting labor costs doesn’t have to mean cutting hours, staff, or service quality. The most successful operators are rethinking how labor is deployed, tracked, and managed — using smart tools, data-driven decisions, and flexible staffing models to do more with less.
Before diving into specific questions and tactics, let’s review the five most effective ways restaurants are reducing labor costs without sacrificing the guest experience.
Effective scheduling is one of the most powerful levers for controlling labor costs. Manual scheduling often leads to misalignment — too many staff on the floor during lulls, or not enough during peak periods. That imbalance doesn’t just hurt profits — it impacts service quality too.
Automated scheduling tools solve this by analyzing historical sales patterns, forecasting future demand, and building shifts that match real needs. Schedules can be adjusted on the fly, preventing overstaffing, reducing unnecessary overtime, and ensuring compliance with labor laws.
Real-world example: At Earls Kitchen + Bar, with over 70 locations and 7,000 employees, scheduling used to be a major time sink. By adopting buildable presets through Push’s scheduling system, Earls’ can now duplicate schedules week after week with ease. They can also see the cost of each schedule in real time — allowing them to stay on budget while maintaining coverage. It’s a small shift with a big impact, saving managers hours every week and helping control labor costs without compromising the guest experience.
Cutting labor costs doesn’t work unless you know where the inefficiencies are. Key performance indicators (KPIs) help managers identify issues early and make decisions backed by data — not gut feelings.
Metrics to monitor:
Tracking these metrics in one dashboard empowers managers to course-correct in real time, optimize shifts, and eliminate waste.
Running lean doesn’t mean running understaffed. Restaurants can maintain service levels by adjusting how labor is allocated and training staff to handle multiple responsibilities.
Effective strategies include:
The goal is flexibility — not burnout. A well-trained, multi-skilled team ensures you can scale up or down without compromising the guest experience.
Time theft — especially buddy punching — quietly erodes labor budgets. One employee clocking in for another might seem small in the moment, but it adds up fast across weeks, departments, and locations.
Advanced time tracking tools offer features like:
Beyond preventing time theft, accurate time tracking reduces payroll errors, improves compliance, and ensures your team is paid fairly for the time they actually worked.
Talking to staff about labor optimization can feel like a morale minefield — unless you bring them into the process. Transparency and empowerment go a long way in building trust.
Best practices:
Empowered teams don’t just accept change — they drive it. Giving employees visibility and input into labor decisions increases buy-in and improves retention.
The old-school method of posting shifts on a whiteboard is officially outdated. Modern restaurants are turning to automated scheduling tools that align labor with projected sales, reducing both overstaffing and burnout.
With Push Operations’ automated scheduler, managers can:
Labor cost percentage remains a critical metric — but it needs context.
Here’s the industry breakdown:
Tracking this alone won’t give you the full picture. Pair it with:
Push’s labor vs. sales forecasting tool overlays labor costs with revenue projections, helping managers make smarter staffing decisions before the schedule is even published.
Micromanagement can drain morale and stifle creativity. On the flip side, failing to monitor productivity can lead to missed opportunities, wasted time, and rising labor costs. The key is to measure what matters — without hovering over your team’s every move.
Focus on clear, actionable KPIs that provide insight without intruding on your team’s autonomy. Here are a few smart metrics to keep your operation efficient and your staff empowered:
By keeping an eye on the right KPIs, you stay in control without becoming overbearing. It’s about steering the kitchen, not stirring every pot.
It’s a tough conversation — but it doesn’t have to be a negative one. Talking about labor adjustments can feel sensitive, especially when team members fear it means fewer hours or looming job insecurity. The good news? With transparency, empathy, and a focus on fairness, you can turn that conversation into a moment of trust and shared purpose.
Labor optimization isn’t about cutting corners — it’s about working smarter together. When your team understands why changes are happening, they’re far more likely to buy in.
Tips for keeping communication clear and morale strong:
When you approach labor conversations as a way to empower — not penalize — you build a culture that sees change as a shared challenge, not a threat.
Back-of-house automation is becoming standard. Restaurants are increasingly adopting AI-driven tools to control profit margins and streamline ops.
Tasks ripe for automation:
With Push Operations, these tedious tasks are automated and streamlined — freeing up managers to focus on culture and customer service instead of administrative busywork.
Labor optimization isn’t about slashing shifts — it’s about strategic, data-driven decision-making. In a market where 64% of diners still prioritize experience over price, cutting too deep can hurt where it matters most: guest satisfaction.
By automating scheduling, tracking key metrics, optimizing labor allocation, improving time tracking, and fostering transparent communication, restaurants can cut costs without sacrificing service quality.
Ready to cut costs without cutting corners?
Start scheduling based on real-time sales, tracking labor KPIs, and eliminating inefficiencies with Push Operations — the all-in-one platform trusted by operators across North America. Book a demo today to get started!