Labor is one of the largest and most difficult expenses for hospitality operators to manage. Demand changes from one shift to the next, service expectations vary by concept, and a schedule that works for one location may undermine profitability at another. Even operators with access to detailed labor and sales data may struggle to see the larger patterns—especially when managing multiple locations.
That was the case for one hospitality group with approximately 35 to 40 locations. When its numbers were viewed side by side, some locations were spending approximately 22% to 25% of revenue on wages. Others were exceeding 50%—and even 60%. The data already existed, but the scale of the disparity had been hiding in plain sight.
In this episode of Behind the Tab, Travis Kohlmeyer, U.S. General Manager at Workforce.com, joins GoTab to discuss what that “aha moment” can teach hospitality operators about labor management. He explores the problems operators frequently miss, what workforce data can reveal, and how scheduling and forecasting technology can give managers more time to lead.
The conversation offers a candid, operator-focused look at how workforce technology supports restaurants, bars, breweries, entertainment venues, and other hospitality businesses—and the questions leaders should ask when evaluating these tools.
Listen to the episode, The Labor Problem Hiding in Plain Sight.
When Labor Problems Hide in Plain Sight
One of the most striking examples Travis shares involves a hospitality organization with approximately 35 to 40 locations.
When Workforce.com analyzed the company’s revenue and labor costs, some locations were spending approximately 22% to 25% of revenue on wages. At the other end of the organization, some locations were exceeding 50%—and even 60%.
The company already had the underlying information. What it did not have was a clear view of what the numbers were saying across the entire operation.
The example illustrates a common challenge for growing hospitality groups: poor performance can remain hidden when teams evaluate locations independently or become consumed by the immediate demands of running the business. Connecting sales, labor, and operational information through the right labor management integrations can help operators identify these disparities earlier.
Labor data becomes valuable when it helps an operator ask better questions:
- Why does one location require significantly more labor than another?
- Is the difference caused by sales volume, scheduling, training, or timekeeping?
- Are managers applying the same standards consistently?
- Does the service model justify the additional labor?
- Is the location capable of operating profitably?
Technology can’t make every decision for an operator, but it can make the patterns much harder to overlook.
Forecast for the Experience You Want to Deliver
Labor forecasting is not simply about putting the fewest possible employees on a shift. The right staffing level depends on the experience a restaurant wants to provide.
A fine-dining restaurant may require more staff interaction throughout the meal. A brewery or counter-service concept may give guests more freedom to order and move through the space independently. An entertainment venue may experience sudden changes in demand around reservations, games, events, or activities.
Each model requires operators to consider different demand signals, including:
- Sales
- Transactions
- Reservations
- Menu items ordered
- Beverage volume
- Dayparts
- Events and seasonal patterns
The objective is to understand how demand translates into the number and types of employees required to provide the intended level of service. A connected restaurant POS system provides the sales and transaction data that helps operators connect staffing decisions with actual demand.
More data is not always better, however. Travis cautions that operators can spend so much time building and maintaining a sophisticated forecast that the process creates more work than value. The right technology should make the decision easier—not introduce another administrative burden.
Chefs Didn’t Sign Up to Build Schedules
Scheduling is necessary, but it is rarely the reason someone chooses a career in hospitality.
Chefs want to create food and lead their kitchens. General managers want to develop teams and care for guests. Owners want to build concepts and communities. Yet these leaders can spend hours creating schedules, responding to shift-swap texts, finding last-minute coverage, and correcting timekeeping issues.
Workforce technology can move some of that work away from the manager. Employees can use a shared system to request changes or find qualified colleagues to cover shifts. Managers maintain oversight and approval without personally coordinating every conversation.
This is also why an open restaurant technology ecosystem matters. GoTab connects with HR, labor-management, and tip-tracking solutions designed to support scheduling, time tracking, payroll, compliance, and team communication.
The goal is not to remove managers from workforce decisions. It is to eliminate repetitive administrative work that keeps them from being present with employees and guests.
Service Models and Staffing Models Are Converging
The traditional boundaries between full service, counter service, and self-service are becoming less rigid.
Chef-driven restaurants can offer sophisticated food through counter-service models. Breweries can combine bartenders with mobile ordering. Entertainment venues can support guests across multiple service areas without requiring the same level of staff interaction at every touchpoint.
These decisions directly affect labor requirements.
Changing from walk-in service to reservations, for example, can give an operator more predictable demand—but it also changes how the restaurant plans table turns, staffing, and pacing. Introducing another ordering channel can shift employees away from taking orders and toward delivering food, assisting guests, and creating a better experience.
GoTab’s guide to hybrid service models for restaurants, breweries, and venues explores how operators can combine staff-led service with mobile ordering, kiosks, self-service, and other ordering options. The goal is not simply to reduce headcount. It is to let technology handle repetitive transactions so employees can focus their time where human interaction creates the most value.
Operators should therefore evaluate workforce and restaurant technology together. The effectiveness of a scheduling system depends partly on whether it understands the demand being created by the restaurant’s service model.
From a College Bar to a Global Workforce Platform
Workforce.com’s story began with a hospitality labor problem.
The company’s founders were university students investigating why a busy campus bar was not making money. They discovered timekeeping problems, including employees reportedly being paid on days when the bar was closed.
After finding the available time clocks expensive and outdated, they built their own system. The project improved accountability across campus businesses and ultimately became the foundation for Workforce.com.
It is an entertaining origin story, but it also captures the central message of the episode: operational data has little value if no one can see where the business is losing money.
Today, Workforce.com brings scheduling, time and attendance, payroll, HR, tip management, and other workforce functions together for shift-based businesses. Its integration with GoTab is part of a broader ecosystem of restaurant technology integrations that allows operators to select the tools that fit their businesses while connecting them with their core operational data.
But the most important question for operators is not how many features a workforce platform offers. It is whether the platform helps them understand their business, reduce unnecessary work, and make better decisions.
Listen to the full episode of Behind the Tab for more from Travis Kohlmeyer on labor forecasting, scheduling, compliance, tip management, and the evolving role of workforce technology in hospitality.
Listen to the episode, The Labor Problem Hiding in Plain Sight.
