Report: Restaurants to add 490,000 summer jobs this year

Restaurants are the economy’s largest employer of teenagers.

Restaurants, especially in the Northeast, are expected to create more seasonal jobs than last year.

Restaurants are estimated to add 490,000 seasonal jobs this summer, per the National Restaurant Association’s 27th annual Eating and Drinking Place Summer Employment Forecast. This is an increase from last year, when restaurants across the United States added 459,000 seasonal jobs, but down from 2023 when the industry added 524,000 jobs in the summer.

Seasonal hiring varies significantly by state and is influenced by weather changes as well as the reliance on summer travel and tourism. The states projected to register the largest proportional employment increase this summer are Maine (32%), Alaska (22%), Delaware (17%), Rhode Island (17%), New Hampshire (13%), New Jersey (12%) and Massachusetts (12%).

The states projected to add the most eating and drinking place jobs in total this summer are New York (48,100), California (38,300), New Jersey (33,300), Massachusetts (29,700), Texas (28,800), Illinois (22,900), Michigan (22,500) and Ohio (21,000).