Restaurants are expected to add 450,000 seasonal jobs this summer, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 28th annual Eating and Drinking Place Summer Employment Forecast. That would be down slightly from last summer’s increase of 469,000 seasonal jobs, and represent the third consecutive year in which summer hiring was below 500,000.
The uncertain business environment is contributing to the softer seasonal hiring, as restaurant operators continue to face uneven customer traffic. In addition, the industry’s prime labor pool – teenagers and young adults – is not as deep as it was last summer, which may lead to challenges filling some open positions.
At the same time, restaurant operators in some parts of the country will benefit from an expected uptick in international visitors – many of whom will be in the U.S. for the FIFA World Cup in June and July. However, even though some restaurants located in host cities will boost staffing to prepare for an increase in customer traffic during the 5-6 weeks of the tournament, it will likely not be evident in the summer employment numbers, which represent the average staffing levels between June and August.
Northeastern States Will See the Strongest Summer Job Growth
Seasonal hiring varies significantly by state and is influenced by weather changes as well as the reliance on summer travel and tourism. For these reasons, states in the northeast typically see the strongest growth in seasonal restaurant jobs, as they are home to many restaurants that are only open during the summer season.
The states projected to register the largest proportional employment increase during the 2026 summer season are Maine (32 percent), Alaska (22 percent), Rhode Island (15 percent), Delaware (15 percent), Massachusetts (12 percent), New Hampshire (12 percent) and New Jersey (12 percent).
The states projected to add the most eating and drinking place jobs during the 2026 summer season are New York (42,100), California (33,500), New Jersey (31,400), Massachusetts (29,600), Illinois (23,300), Texas (22,400), Michigan (20,700) and North Carolina (19,500).
Due to the fact that their busiest seasons for travel and tourism are not in the summer months, Florida (-21,500), Arizona (-5,300) and Louisiana (-500) are projected to register declines in eating and drinking place employment during the 2026 summer season.
Prime Labor Pool Is Shallower in 2026
As the 2026 summer season approached, there was a decline in the restaurant industry’s prime labor pool. Roughly 6 million 16-19-year-olds were in the labor force in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While that was 700,000 higher than the comparable pre-pandemic level in April 2019, it was 200,000 fewer teenagers than were in the labor force in both April 2024 and April 2025.
The number of teens in the workforce is still expected to rise well above 7 million during the peak summer months when more students are available, but the lower early-season numbers likely impacted some restaurant operators who were looking to get a jump on their seasonal hiring.
The availability of teens in the labor force is particularly important for restaurants, as this cohort makes up 20 percent of the industry workforce. Overall, restaurants are the economy’s largest employer of teenagers, providing job opportunities for more than 1.8 million 16-19-year-olds – or 33 percent of all working teens.
Young adults are also an important component of the restaurant workforce, with 20-24-year-olds accounting for 22 percent of all employees. Like the teenage cohort, restaurant operators who started ramping up their summer hiring in April had fewer of them to choose from than they did in 2025.
There were 15.4 million 20-24-year-olds in the labor force in April 2026 – down from 15.5 million in April 2025. That was largely the result of a lower labor force participation rate, which declined from 71.0 percent in April 2025 to 69.6 percent in April 2026.
Restaurant operators looking for a more seasoned team this summer will likely have better luck, as the number of older adults in the labor pool continues to rise. There were 12.0 million adults aged 65 or older in the labor force in April 2026, according to BLS. That was up from 11.7 million in April 2025 and represented the highest April reading on record.
Although this age group makes up just 3 percent of the overall restaurant workforce, it will likely become more important in the coming years as their representation in the labor pool continues to rise. By 2034, BLS predicts there will be 14.5 million adults aged 65 or older in the labor force – an increase of more than 2.5 million above current levels.