{"id":1012537,"date":"2026-10-22T08:10:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T12:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T08:10:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T12:10:51","slug":"toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <!--.bwalignc { text-align: center; list-style-position: inside }\n.bwlistdisc { list-style-type: disc }body {font:normal small Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#000;background-color:#fff;padding:24px;margin:0;} a img {border:0;} h3 {font-size:medium;color:#000;margin:0 0 1em 0; text-align:center;}-->  <\/p>\n<p class=\"bwalignc\">\nToast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI<\/p>\n<p>BOSTON&#8211;(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businesswire.com\">BUSINESS WIRE<\/a>)&#8211;<br \/>\nToast (NYSE: TOST) released its 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey. Toast annually polls restaurant employees about their jobs, and the takeaway in 2026: While restaurants are feeling the pinch of a shrinking workforce \u2014 perhaps for that very reason \u2014 there\u2019s been an uptick in restaurant industry employees\u2019 pay and satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>\nToast\u2019s survey of 702 restaurant employees \u2014 which asked about pay, tips, benefits, AI, and more \u2014 shows a significant jump in restaurant employees\u2019 pay satisfaction compared to 2025 and, similarly, a corresponding increase in satisfaction with benefits.<sup>1,2<\/sup><\/p>\n<p><b>Read the full 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey on the <\/b><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpos.toasttab.com%2Fblog%2Fdata%2Frestaurant-employee-statistics&amp;esheet=54626721&amp;newsitemid=20261022590874&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Data+by+Toast+website&amp;index=1&amp;md5=070f9473ea6ef6d35f8a719b9ff1e28c\"><b>Data by Toast website<\/b><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\nKey takeaways from Toast\u2019s 2026 restaurant employee perspectives tracker<\/p>\n<p>\nAmong the 702 restaurant employees surveyed:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"bwlistdisc\">\n<li>\nPay satisfaction is up: <b>67% <\/b>were extremely satisfied or satisfied with their pay, up 12 points year-over-year<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>42% <\/b>of tipped employees reported<b \/>tips increased in the past 12 months\n<\/li>\n<li>\nBenefits: <b>62% <\/b>were extremely satisfied or satisfied<b>, <\/b>up 16 points year-over-year<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\nFlexible schedule &amp; good pay<b>:<\/b> Most common favorite aspects of job (<b>32%<\/b> ranked in top three)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\nPoor hourly pay: Most common pain point (<b>31% <\/b>ranked in top three)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\nHow do restaurant employees feel about their pay?<\/p>\n<p>\nAmong the 702 restaurant employees surveyed:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"bwlistdisc\">\n<li><b>67% <\/b>of restaurant employees were satisfied with their pay, up 12 points year-over-year\n<\/li>\n<li><b>42%<\/b> were satisfied<b>,<\/b> up 6 points year-over-year\n<\/li>\n<li><b>25%<\/b> were extremely satisfied, up 6 points year-over-year\n<\/li>\n<li><b>14% <\/b>were unsatisfied to any extent, down 8 points year-over-year\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\nIn short: Restaurant employees are, by and large, happier with their pay than previous years. Toast survey data showed a significant uptick across the board in satisfaction \u2014 in total, a 12 percentage point year-over-year rise in satisfaction. Naturally, dissatisfaction experienced a corresponding drop, with just 14% expressing they were unsatisfied to some extent, an 8 percentage point drop from 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\nThe U.S. workforce has shrunk in recent years \u2014 especially among younger people who often work in the restaurant industry \u2014 complicating operators\u2019 task of filling out a staff. It appears those operators have responded by rewarding the employees they <i>do <\/i>have.<\/p>\n<p>\nDo restaurant workers want to use AI?<\/p>\n<p>\nAmong the 702 restaurant employees surveyed:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"bwlistdisc\">\n<li>\nJust ~<b>10%<\/b> of restaurant workers seem to fully reject the idea of using AI at work<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\nIn general,<b> ~20% <\/b>are<b \/>extremely open to using AI for work tasks<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>23<\/b>% are extremely open to AI-generated end-of-shift summaries\n<\/li>\n<li><b>23%<\/b> extremely open<b \/>to AI-generated upsell suggestions\n<\/li>\n<li><b>12% <\/b>not at all open to AI training or coaching\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\nIt\u2019s an AI-driven world in 2026, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpos.toasttab.com%2Fblog%2Fdata%2Fq1-2026-restaurant-ai-pos-trends&amp;esheet=54626721&amp;newsitemid=20261022590874&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=even+in+restaurants&amp;index=2&amp;md5=a55d6eeaa2a306835227393e0151caf7\">even in restaurants<\/a>, and most industry workers expressed a willingness to use AI on the job.<\/p>\n<p>\nToast asked respondents whether they\u2019d be open to incorporating AI for work tasks \u2014 things like shift scheduling, upselling suggestions, or summarizing shifts \u2014 and roughly 20% were extremely open while about 10% rejected using AI outright. Overall, a majority of workers expressed some willingness to use AI for each task.<\/p>\n<p>\nAI making its way into the lives of bartenders and servers surely indicates times are changing but, as Toast\u2019s data shows, familiar issues \u2014 hourly pay, tips, and benefits \u2014 remain as important as ever.<\/p>\n<p><b>Read the full 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey on the <\/b><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpos.toasttab.com%2Fblog%2Fdata%2Frestaurant-employee-statistics&amp;esheet=54626721&amp;newsitemid=20261022590874&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=Data+by+Toast+website&amp;index=3&amp;md5=9cf8117ecb5b7c7033e3334bbe985ba0\"><b>Data by Toast website<\/b><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>2026 Survey Methodology<br \/>\n<br \/><\/b><sup>1<\/sup>To help better understand the restaurant industry, Toast conducted a blind survey of 702, U.S.-based restaurant employees who are 18+, including both Toast and non-Toast customers, from Feb. 13, 2026 to March 11, 2026. Respondents did not know Toast was fielding the study. Using a standard margin of error calculation, at a confidence interval of 95%, the margin of error of +\/- 4%.<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup>Toast conducted a blind survey from January 31, 2025, to February 19, 2025, of 624 respondents 18 years old and older who are based in the US, and are currently employed at a restaurant, including both Toast and non-Toast customers. Respondents were not made aware that Toast was fielding the study. Panel providers granted incentives to restaurant respondents for participation. Using a standard margin of error calculation, the margin of error on average is +\/- 4%.<\/p>\n<p><b>About Toast<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\nToast [NYSE: TOST] is a global technology platform built for restaurant and retail businesses. From the busiest local restaurants and shops to large hospitality brands, Toast helps owners and operators manage their businesses more efficiently, drive guest demand, and build lasting success.<\/p>\n<p>\nToast integrates software, agentic AI, payments, financial technology solutions, and hardware with a broad partner ecosystem. Powering billions of purchases throughout local commerce, Toast delivers the precision and innovation required for modern restaurant and retail environments. For more information, visitwww.toasttab.com.<\/p>\n<p>\nTOST-CORP<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=bwnews&amp;sty=20261022590874r1&amp;sid=flmnd&amp;distro=nx&amp;lang=en\" style=\"width:0;height:0\" \/><span class=\"bwct31415\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"mmgallerylink\"><span id=\"mmgallerylink-phrase\">View source version on businesswire.com: <\/span><span id=\"mmgallerylink-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20261022590874\/en\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20261022590874\/en\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nMedia: <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"mailto:media@toasttab.com\">media@toasttab.com<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>Investors: <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"mailto:IR@toasttab.com\">IR@toasttab.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>KEYWORDS:<\/b> Massachusetts United States North America<\/p>\n<p><b>INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:<\/b> Mobile\/Wireless Technology Payments Software Networks Restaurant\/Bar Hardware Data Management Retail Artificial Intelligence<\/p>\n<p><b>MEDIA:<\/b><\/p>\n<table cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"3\">\n<tr>\n<td><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><b>Logo<\/b><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mms.businesswire.com\/media\/20261022590874\/en\/1880744\/3\/Toast_logo_Newsroom.jpg\" alt=\"Logo\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><font face=\"Arial\" size=\"2\"><\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI BOSTON&#8211;(BUSINESS WIRE)&#8211; Toast (NYSE: TOST) released its 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey. Toast annually polls restaurant employees about their jobs, and the takeaway in 2026: While restaurants are feeling the pinch of a shrinking workforce \u2014 perhaps for that very reason \u2014 there\u2019s been an uptick in restaurant industry employees\u2019 pay and satisfaction. Toast\u2019s survey of 702 restaurant employees \u2014 which asked about pay, tips, benefits, AI, and more \u2014 shows a significant jump in restaurant employees\u2019 pay satisfaction compared to 2025 and, similarly, a corresponding increase in satisfaction with benefits.1,2 Read the full 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey on the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1012537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI - Market Newsdesk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI - Market Newsdesk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI BOSTON&#8211;(BUSINESS WIRE)&#8211; Toast (NYSE: TOST) released its 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey. Toast annually polls restaurant employees about their jobs, and the takeaway in 2026: While restaurants are feeling the pinch of a shrinking workforce \u2014 perhaps for that very reason \u2014 there\u2019s been an uptick in restaurant industry employees\u2019 pay and satisfaction. Toast\u2019s survey of 702 restaurant employees \u2014 which asked about pay, tips, benefits, AI, and more \u2014 shows a significant jump in restaurant employees\u2019 pay satisfaction compared to 2025 and, similarly, a corresponding increase in satisfaction with benefits.1,2 Read the full 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey on the &hellip; Continue reading &quot;Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Newsdesk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-22T12:10:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=bwnews&amp;sty=20261022590874r1&amp;sid=flmnd&amp;distro=nx&amp;lang=en\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Newsdesk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Newsdesk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\\\/index.php\\\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\\\/index.php\\\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Newsdesk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f27a394d4fda80ecb5499e519d979\"},\"headline\":\"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-22T12:10:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\\\/index.php\\\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":784,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\\\/index.php\\\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cts.businesswire.com\\\/ct\\\/CT?id=bwnews&amp;sty=20261022590874r1&amp;sid=flmnd&amp;distro=nx&amp;lang=en\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\\\/index.php\\\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\\\/index.php\\\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\\\/\",\"name\":\"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI - 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Toast annually polls restaurant employees about their jobs, and the takeaway in 2026: While restaurants are feeling the pinch of a shrinking workforce \u2014 perhaps for that very reason \u2014 there\u2019s been an uptick in restaurant industry employees\u2019 pay and satisfaction. Toast\u2019s survey of 702 restaurant employees \u2014 which asked about pay, tips, benefits, AI, and more \u2014 shows a significant jump in restaurant employees\u2019 pay satisfaction compared to 2025 and, similarly, a corresponding increase in satisfaction with benefits.1,2 Read the full 2026 Voice of the Restaurant Employee Survey on the &hellip; Continue reading \"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/","og_site_name":"Market Newsdesk","article_published_time":"2026-10-22T12:10:51+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=bwnews&amp;sty=20261022590874r1&amp;sid=flmnd&amp;distro=nx&amp;lang=en","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Newsdesk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Newsdesk","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/"},"author":{"name":"Newsdesk","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/482f27a394d4fda80ecb5499e519d979"},"headline":"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI","datePublished":"2026-10-22T12:10:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/"},"wordCount":784,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cts.businesswire.com\/ct\/CT?id=bwnews&amp;sty=20261022590874r1&amp;sid=flmnd&amp;distro=nx&amp;lang=en","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/","url":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/toasts-2026-restaurant-employee-survey-how-industry-workers-feel-about-pay-tips-benefits-and-ai\/","name":"Toast\u2019s 2026 Restaurant Employee Survey: How Industry Workers Feel About Pay, Tips, Benefits, and AI - 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