Why the Best Restaurant Operators Are Harder to Find After COVID

If you talk to enough restaurant operators about what happened during COVID, a clear pattern starts to show up. The details might change depending on the market or the type of concept, but the core experience is consistent. What felt like chaos at the time now looks more like a structural shift in how restaurants operate.

Most people think of COVID as a temporary disruption. Restaurants shut down, adapted, and eventually reopened. But what actually happened went deeper than that. Operators were forced to rethink how their businesses functioned in real time, without the luxury of planning or gradual change. The decisions made during that period were not about optimizing the business. They were about keeping it alive.

Revenue dropped quickly, and the pressure to control costs became immediate. In that kind of environment, clarity happens fast. Operators had to look at their businesses and decide what was essential and what wasn’t. And for most, the fastest lever they could pull was payroll.

Restaurant operators cut senior roles first to keep their businesses alive

The most common thing I heard during that time was operators cutting the most expensive people on their payroll. These weren’t entry-level roles. They were director-level positions, corporate leadership, and regional oversight roles that carried the highest salaries.

It wasn’t about whether those roles were valuable. Under normal conditions, they were. But when you are trying to survive, you don’t make decisions based on what is ideal. You make decisions based on what keeps the business open.

So those roles were cut.

What’s important is that the work tied to those roles didn’t go away. Restaurants still needed leadership, decision-making, and oversight. They just didn’t have the same structure to support it anymore.

That’s where the shift really started.

Restaurant operators pushed more responsibility onto GMs and property-level leaders

Once those senior roles were removed, the responsibility moved down to the people closest to the business. General managers, assistant general managers, and in some cases even floor managers started taking on work that had previously been handled by corporate or regional leaders.

There was no transition period. No training plan. No time to gradually adjust. It was simply a matter of doing what needed to be done to keep the doors open.

That created a very different kind of operating environment. You had fewer people carrying more responsibility, often while dealing with constant uncertainty. Staffing was inconsistent, rules were changing, and the margin for error was small.

Some people stepped into that and figured it out. They gained experience quickly because they had no other option. They became stronger operators in a short period of time because they were forced to expand their skill set.

But not everyone was ready for that shift.

A lot of people were in over their heads. They were running businesses during one of the most difficult periods the industry has ever faced, without the support structure that had been there before. It was a pressure cooker, and it showed very clearly who could handle that level of complexity and who couldn’t.

It also pushed a lot of people to their limits.

Restaurant operators chose leaner teams, pushing experienced talent out of the industry

When PPP funding came through and operations started to stabilize, restaurants had the opportunity to rebuild. But many operators didn’t go back to the way things were.

They had just spent months running their businesses without those higher-cost roles, and they had made it work. That changed how they thought about structure. Instead of automatically rebuilding the same layers of leadership, many operators chose to stay lean.

They kept more responsibility at the property level and avoided adding roles unless they were absolutely necessary. From a business standpoint, it made sense. It allowed them to operate more efficiently and maintain control over costs.

But that decision had consequences for the talent market.

At the same time operators were choosing not to rebuild those roles, there were experienced professionals still in the market. These were people who had held senior positions for years and had built their careers around those roles. And suddenly, there were fewer opportunities that matched their experience.

Some stayed in the market and tried to find the right fit. Others waited. But many eventually left the industry altogether because the roles they had built their careers around were no longer as available.

Once they left, they didn’t all come back.

At the same time, the operators who stayed went through a different kind of shift. They had taken on more responsibility than they were used to. They had worked longer hours and carried more pressure than they expected. When things stabilized, many of them reassessed what they wanted.

Some decided they didn’t want to operate at that level long term. Others stayed, but became far more selective about the roles they would take. They had a clearer understanding of what the job could demand, and they weren’t willing to step back into the same kind of situation.

So now you have fewer experienced operators, and the ones who remain are more selective.

The restaurant industry changed how operators are developed, and it hasn’t caught up

Today, the industry is more stable, but the talent pool is not the same.

You have fewer highly experienced operators available because some of them left. At the same time, you have a newer group of candidates who are aiming for leadership roles more quickly. Many of them expect higher titles and compensation, but they haven’t had the same path of development that operators had before COVID.

That creates a gap that shows up in hiring.

Operators are still thinking about efficiency. They learned how to run lean, and they are careful about adding layers back into the business. Candidates are thinking about growth. They want advancement, compensation, and recognition.

Both sides are rational. They’re just not aligned.

Looking ahead, technology is going to continue shaping parts of the industry. AI and automation are already showing up in backend work, admin roles, and even parts of the kitchen. That will likely reduce some roles over time.

But it doesn’t change the core of the business.

Hospitality is built around human interaction. People go to restaurants because they want an experience. They want to be taken care of, to connect, and to feel something. That part of the industry isn’t going away.

The operators who stand out today are the ones who can handle both sides of the job. They can run the business, and they can lead people through it.

That combination has always mattered. What’s changed is how rare it’s become.

About The Author:

Martha Madison is a hospitality recruiter who specializes in placing leadership talent across high-end restaurants, hotels, and luxury properties. With a background rooted in the industry itself, she brings an operator’s perspective to recruiting, understanding firsthand how roles function on the ground and what it actually takes to succeed in them. Her work focuses on connecting top-tier talent with brands that require both operational excellence and strong leadership, often working on complex searches that demand deep industry knowledge and a highly targeted approach.

Looking for operators who can actually lead?

The talent pool changed after COVID. The leaders who can run the business and lead the people through it are rarer than ever. We help restaurant groups and luxury properties find them.

Work With Us