Hospitality Staff Turnover Drops By Close To 10%

The UK hospitality sector has seen a significant reduction in team turnover over the past year, dropping from 75% to 67%, according to first-of-its-kind insight from hospitality people data specialist, Pineapple, and AI-native workforce management software provider, Sona.

The insight, which analyses raw data from more than 35,000 employees across the sector and has been published in a free evidence-based report, reveals a powerful, statistically significant link between promoting managers from within and achieving lower staff churn.

The findings suggest a strategic shift for operators grappling with retention challenges. As the wider industry faces a 3% year-on-year increase in labour costs, with these rising to 35% of total sales for businesses across the sector. The bulk of that increase came in the last quarter, as expected, but put a lot of pressure on operators ahead of the busy festive season. The report highlights that investing in internal career pathways is the most effective strategy for building stable, high-performing teams and protecting the bottom line.

The report provides a critical, data-backed benchmark for People and Operations leaders to build more resilient workforces. Whilst the results might have reflected general “gut feel”, this research is significant because it moves beyond anecdotal evidence to offer statistically significant insights that can inform strategy and secure boardroom investment in talent development initiatives.

The key findings for hospitality leaders include:

• Internal promotion drives stability: The rate of internal promotions for key on-site leadership roles has risen, with Head Chef promotions seeing the largest jump from 44% to 51%. The report’s correlation analysis confirms this is the most effective safeguard against staff turnover, particularly when promoting Sous Chefs and Assistant General Managers.
• Management vacancies fuel team turnover: Persistent gaps in management teams are a primary driver of overall team turnover. The data shows a strong correlation between vacancies for Head Chef, General Manager and Sous Chef positions and higher churn rates across all departments.
• Rising costs and mixed morale: While retention is improving, labour costs have climbed to 35% of revenue. This financial pressure coincides with a drop in the overall employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) from 53.77 to 50.12. However, the picture is nuanced, with sectors like QSR (-14.17) and Competitive Socialising (-21.45) seeing sharp declines in morale, while the Restaurant sector saw an increase (+2.03).

Philip Eeles, co-founder of Pineapple and the industry pioneer behind Honest Burgers and Breadstall Pizza, said:
“It’s time the conversation on people, performance, and culture within hospitality moved on and replicated other sectors, with a more data-led approach. We are incredibly excited to offer, for the first time, insight on what’s really changing in the space, and what things really impact employee engagement and retention.

The data tells a clear and compelling story: stability starts at the top. For years, the industry has battled high turnover as an accepted cost of doing business. Our groundbreaking analysis proves a powerful link between nurturing your own talent into management roles and building teams that stay. The message for leaders is that your next great manager is likely already in your building. Investing in their development is not just a ‘nice to have’, it’s a direct route to better retention, reduced costs, and stronger operational performance.”

Ben Dixon, CTO and co-founder of Sona, added:
“This partnership between Sona and Pineapple will combine powerful operational data with crucial insights into employee engagement, giving operators a complete view of their workforce. Aggregation of this data will start to build a benchmark for the sector over time, providing operators with actionable insights and real value.

“For a long time, hospitality operators have been managing their most critical asset – their people – by relying on gut-feel, historical averages, and disconnected spreadsheets. This creates a constant, costly battle between controlling labour spend and delivering an outstanding guest experience. In an industry where every percentage point matters, where people are one of your biggest assets, teams need much deeper insight and reliable numbers to avoid overstaffing that eats into profits or, more damagingly, under-staffing that burns out your best employees and disappoints guests.”

Vicky Hall, Head of People, Wagamama – one of the report’s contributors – also commented:
“Pineapple’s ambition has always been spot on – to give people a voice at an executive level, using data and insights to demonstrate the positive impact the people function can have on business performance. But what’s different is being able to use industry wide data to show comparisons and trends across a given cohort, using benchmark reporting and industry-level insight on people metrics has helped elevate the conversation. Longer term, we can use this reporting to understand “what is the right level of turnover?”, “is there such a thing as too much internal progression?” – questions that should be asked but until the inception of Pineapple, have been difficult to answer.”

The report underscores a pivotal moment for the hospitality industry, presenting a clear, actionable path for brands to gain a competitive edge by focusing on internal progression and leadership stability.