Management Perceptions of Older Employees in the U.S. Quick Service Restaurant Industry

Abstract

The quick service restaurant industry has had a consistent problem finding employees for its growing sales trends over the past decade. The traditional employee for quick service restaurants is often young and inexperienced. The current study is exploratory research into the quick service restaurant industry staffing practices and procedures done by analyzing the perceptions of 20 managers from quick service restaurant chains in the Southeastern part of the U.S. regarding older workers. The study finds that the positive perception held by managers regarding older workers does not translate into a stated desire to actually hire a larger percentage of older workers to staff the restaurants. Implications for practitioners are presented.