Job opportunities in food services and drinking places should be plentiful, because the large number of young and part-time workers in the industry will generate substantial replacement needs. As experienced workers find jobs in other, higher-paying establishments, seek full-time opportunities outside the industry, or stop working, a large number of job openings will be created for new entrants. Wage and salary jobs in food services and drinking places are expected to increase by 15.9 percent over the 2002-12 period, compared to 16.3-percent growth projected for all industries combined. Numerous job opportunities will be available for people with limited job skills, first-time job seekers, senior citizens, and those seeking part-time or alternative work schedules.

Increases in population, dual-income families, and dining sophistication will contribute to job growth. Consumer demand for convenience and ready-to-heat meal options also will offer cooks and other food preparation workers a wider variety of employment settings in which to work. Moderately-priced restaurants that offer table service will afford increasing job opportunities as these businesses expand to accommodate the growing demand of an older and more mobile population and cater to families with young children. Fine dining establishments, which appeal more to affluent, often older, customers, also should grow as the 45-and-older population increases rapidly. The numbers of limited-service and fast-food restaurants that appeal to younger diners should increase more slowly than in the past. As schools, hospitals, and company cafeterias contract out institutional food services, jobs should shift to firms specializing in these services. Some of the increased demand for food services will be met through more supermarket food service options, self-service facilities such as salad bars, untended meal stations, and automated beverage stations.

Occupational projections reflect different rates of growth among the various segments of the food services and drinking places industry. Employment in occupations concentrated in full-service restaurants-including skilled chefs and head cooks, waiters and waitresses, and hosts and hostesses-is expected to grow slightly faster than overall employment in the food services and drinking places industry. On the other hand, employment in many occupations concentrated in limited-service and fast-food restaurants-including fast-food and short-order cooks-is expected to increase more slowly than overall employment in the food services and drinking places industry. Duties of cooks in fast-food restaurants are limited; faster growth is expected for combined food preparation and serving workers who both prepare and serve items in fast-food restaurants.

Those who qualify-either through experience or formal culinary training-for skilled head cook and chef positions should be in demand. The greatest number of job openings will be in the largest occupations-waiters and waitresses and combined food preparation and serving workers-which also have high replacement needs.

Employment of salaried managers is projected to increase about as fast as the overall average for the industry as a result of sustained growth in chain and franchised establishments. Graduates of college hospitality programs, particularly those with good computer skills, should have especially good opportunities. The growing dominance of chain-affiliated food services and drinking places also should enhance opportunities for advancement from food service manager positions into general manager and corporate administrative jobs. Employment of self-employed managers in independent food services and drinking places is expected to remain steady.