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Food And Beverage Staffing Changes In Nevada Resorts After The Great Recession, Toni Repetti, Liheng Zhang

Journal of Hospitality Financial Management

With profit margins averagins 5-7% and labor costs of 30-55% of revenue, restaurant managers need to carefully monitor expenses to maintain these already low profit margins. This study evaluates food and beverage departments within Nevada casinos from 2000 to 2018 to see if managers exhibited expense preference behavior prior to the Great Recession. Three models were tested: number of employees, salaries and wages, and total payroll. Results show that in all three models, there is a significant decrease postrecession versus prerecession, with a decrease of 12.8% in employees, 4.5% in salaries and wages, and 9.1% in total payroll. Only the …