Stable teams, stronger businesses: Key findings from Pineapple and Sona's latest hospitality report

Hospitality workforce retention is improving, but the stability of General Managers and Head Chefs remains closely linked to whether teams stay, develop and deliver a consistent guest experience.

That is one of the key findings from Pineapple Recruitment’s H1 2026 Insight Report, powered by its partner Sona. Drawing on workforce data contributed by participating hospitality brands, the report explores the connections between leadership, pay, career progression, employee feedback and customer satisfaction.

For operators balancing labour costs with service standards, its findings offer a useful starting point for deciding where to focus attention.

Retention improves, but early departures remain a challenge

Across the report’s benchmarks, 12-month rolling staff turnover fell from 66.73% in Q2 2025 to 63.34% in Q2 2026, an improvement of 3.39 percentage points.

Management vacancy rates also declined, from 14.06% to 10.55%, while the average proportion of management roles filled through internal promotion increased from 55.22% to 57.23%.

However, retaining new starters remains a challenge. The 90-day early churn benchmark stood at 29.03%, down only slightly from 30.18% a year earlier. Quarterly turnover also edged upwards, suggesting that improving annual figures should be considered alongside more immediate workforce pressures.

The importance of keeping key leaders

One of the report’s strongest findings concerns the relationship between stable leadership and wider team retention.

Brands that sustained annual General Manager turnover below 50% across the study period recorded average overall team turnover of 52.4% in H1 2026. Among brands with persistently higher General Manager turnover, the equivalent figure was 81.5%.

A similar pattern emerged in kitchens. Brands with sustained Head Chef turnover below 50% recorded back-of-house turnover of 42.3%, compared with 77.2% among those with persistently higher Head Chef turnover.

The findings reinforce the value of treating leadership retention as an operational priority. Reviewing workloads, discussing progression and understanding why experienced managers might leave can help operators identify issues before they affect the wider team.

Career progression needs consistency

Stable leadership was also associated with stronger internal development.

Brands maintaining General Manager turnover below 30% recorded an average subsequent management internal promotion rate of 62.8%, compared with 43.1% among brands where General Manager turnover exceeded 50%.

Employee sentiment followed a similar pattern. Brands filling more than 60% of management roles internally recorded an average employee Net Promoter Score, a measure of employee advocacy, of +58.1. Those filling fewer than 35% internally averaged +38.6.

For operators, the findings support making career pathways visible, with clear development opportunities and examples of colleagues progressing through the business.

Team stability belongs in the guest experience conversation

The report also compared workforce turnover with brands’ Google review ratings.

Brands in the 4.5–4.6 rating band recorded average annual team turnover of 59.9%, compared with 69.8% in the lower-rated group. Kitchen retention was particularly notable: back-of-house turnover stood at 53.6% in the highest-rated group, compared with 66.1% among brands rated 4.5–4.6.

These are associations rather than proof that reducing turnover will improve review scores. Pineapple acknowledges that customer satisfaction reflects many factors, with its overall turnover analysis accounting for around 12% of the variation in ratings.

Nevertheless, the findings make a case for considering workforce stability alongside food quality, service and the wider customer experience.

The full report explores these relationships in greater detail, alongside pay benchmarks, employee engagement findings and brand and sector league tables.

Download Pineapple’s H1 2026 Insight Report to explore the full findings and recommendations.