Hospitality Hires Over 11% of the Population in New Mexico
Hospitality businesses are one of the largest employers in New Mexico, providing some individuals their first jobs or creating opportunities to grow into management and upper level culinary careers. Approximately 11% of the New Mexican population works in a hospitality job, equating to about 90,600 people according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. These jobs are expected to grow by 9.9% in the next 10 years, growing to almost 100,000 jobs. The largest portion of these workers are concentrated as servers coming in at about 20,000 for the state. These servers come from a wide array of backgrounds from first time workers, to those supplementing their income while in college. Restaurants provide the flexibility and earning potential that is almost nonexistence in most other fields.
Giving Back to Communities: Part of a Restaurants Bottom Line
In addition to employing almost 5% of the state, New Mexico restaurants are also there to support their communities. Restaurant often act as a community hub or gathering place for community meetings or celebrations. They sponsor little leagues, donate food to those in need and donate space for meetings. Almost all celebrations revolve around food and restaurants are there to help you celebrate. According to the National Restaurant Association 94% of restaurants make charitable donations, donating approximately 3 billion dollars last year nationally.
Diversity, Family and Tradition, and Culture through Food and Beverages
There are approximately 3,300 eating/drinking establishments in New Mexico, acting as the cornerstones to their cities. They are just as diverse as the state, and come in all shapes in sizes. Whether it’s a tiny mom and pop shop in Gallup, or a bustling fine dining restaurant in Santa Fe, they are all there to serve their communities through jobs, donations, and always fantastic food.
To learn more about the impact of restaurants on their communities at a national level, head to the National Restaurant Association’s website and search for industry impact.
The statistics in this page were acquired from the Bureau of Labor and Statics website.
