ABSTRACT
The foodservice industry represents $476 billion in revenue and over 4% of the gross domestic product of the United States (U.S.) (National Restaurant Association, 2005). There are currently more than 12 million workers employed in the U.S. foodservice industry (National Restaurant Association, 2005). This makes the foodservice industry the number one private sector employer in the U.S. by employing over 9 percent of the total population (National Restaurant Association, 2003: Spielberg, 2004). Restaurant industry sales have been steadily increasing for the past 13 years and it is projected that they will continue increasing (National Restaurant Association, 2005). Due to this continuing growth, effective recruiting and retention of hourly employees remain major challenges that restaurant managers must resolve (National Restaurant Association, 2003).
