85% of small restaurants across the US say it’s still very difficult to find staff, according to a new survey

• Small businesses are still struggling to hire in the labor shortage, with restaurants suffering most, per a new poll.
• In the Alignable poll, 85% of restaurant owners said it was very difficult to find staff.
• Employment in the restaurant industry dropped in August for the first time since April 2020.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

The vast majority of small restaurants across the US are still struggling to hire enough staff, according to a new survey.

Alignable, a small business network, polled 4,079 small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners between August 15 to September 13. In the poll, shared with Insider, 85% of the 803 restaurant owners that responded said it was "very difficult" to find staff.

This was an increase from last month's survey, where 80% said they were finding it very difficult to find help.

Only 3% of restaurant owners said in the most recent poll that they weren't struggling to hire.

The survey also covered owners from other industries. The poll showed that restaurants were the SMBs worst hit by the labor shortage, followed by manufacturing, automotive, and construction businesses.

Preliminary US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures from early September appear to support the findings.

The number of people working in restaurants, cafes, and bars across the US fell by 42,000 in August, per the BLS data. This was the restaurant's industry first drop in employment since April 2020, and the largest drop in employment across all non-farm industries in August.

Overall, two in three SMB owners Alignable polled said it was very hard to find help - up from 50% in its poll that ran to July. Only 6% of respondents to the most recent poll said it was easy to hire.

Just under half of respondents (47%) said they'd raised wages to recruit new workers or retain existing ones, while 23% said they'd reduced operating hours to cut payroll expenses.

A combination of higher wages and a lack of workers have meant that some restaurants across the US have closed their dining rooms or slashed their opening hours.

One in eight (12.3%) respondents to Alignable's survey said they'd turned to gig-worker apps to plug their labor shortages.