https://thenycalliance.org/informati...ts-labor-costs

To gain insight into the labor market, between November 28th and December
27th, 2018, the New York City Hospitality Alliance conducted a survey to
investigate how restaurants in the city of New York are addressing increasing
labor costs.

The operators of 574 establishments responded to the survey, which represents
324 full service restaurants and 250 limited service restaurants.

The survey results presented in this report include powerful insights. 76.50% of
full service restaurant respondents reduced employee hours, and 36.30%
eliminated jobs in 2018, in response to mandated wage increases. 75% of limited
service restaurant respondents report that they will reduce employee hours, and
53.10% will eliminate jobs in 2019 as a result of mandated wage increases that
took effect on December 31, 2018.

There’s also a concerning trend found in restaurant employment data. When the
tip wage increased 50% in 2015, and since doubled, annual employment growth
dropped from 6.67% to less than 1% as of November 2018. The State Department
of Labor's data for employment at limited service restaurants show a similar
downtrend. Both decreases in growth, the results of this survey, and other
industry trends signal that a once growing industry; responsible for hundreds of
thousands of jobs, and billions of dollars in economic impact, has become
stagnant.