WI Restaurants Have Recovered, But Employment Still Down

WISCONSIN — Employment and revenue from Wisconsin bars and restaurants has recovered considerably since the coronavirus pandemic started in April 2020, but employment in the sector still lags below levels before the pandemic.

Some 199,900 Wisconsinites were employed in the bar and restaurant industry in August 2021, data from the Wisconsin Policy Forum showed. Employment in the sector is still down by nearly 20,000 workers, or 8.8 percent, compared to August 2020.

Job recovery in the sector is weaker in Wisconsin than the rest of the state, the nonprofit said. Employment in bars and restaurants is down by 6.1 percent nationally in August 2021.

Sales tax revenues reported by businesses on their returns were up to $48.4 million in Wisconsin in July 2021, according to preliminary data from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. This is higher than 2019 levels — sales tax revenue was $45.3 million in July 2019.

Some 418 state-licensed restaurants and retail food establishments closed in 2020 and 218 opened, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. New restaurant openings outpaced closures in 2019 and have again in 2021 through August.

Food service job openings hit nearly 1.6 million across the country in July 2021, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is almost more than double from January, where there were almost 700,000 openings.

Some 75 percent of restaurant operators said employee recruitment and retention were their biggest challenges in July 2021, according to a survey from the National Restaurant Association.

Restaurant and bar employee wages have risen nationally, increasing by $1.77 to $17.27 from July 2020 to July 2021, the Wisconsin Policy Forum reported. There is no state level data available about wage increases.

Wisconsin's minimum wage is $7.25 for hourly employees and $2.33 for tipped employees, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

The median hourly earnings of all employees in the United States was $11.26 in August 2021, data from Statista.com showed.

Bar and restaurant employment was down by 50 percent in April 2020, with only 104,900 workers in the sector.

Restaurants and bars received 6.5 percent of all the federal Paycheck Protection Program loans given to businesses in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Policy Forum reported. That sector makes up 8.4 percent of the state's total private employment.

Here's where you can read the full Wisconsin Policy Forum report.