Case Study: P.F. Chang’s achieves 1% labor-cost reduction and greater scheduling consistency with Fourth’s HotSchedules Labor Optimization

How P.F. Chang’s reduced their labor cost by 1 percent across more than 200 locations

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, an upscale casual dining brand founded in 1993 with more than 200 U.S. restaurants and nearly 20,000 employees, faced rising labor pressures — spending 2–6% more on labor than competitors, seeing large cost gaps between similar stores, and lacking a standardized forecasting approach amid minimum wage increases and staffing challenges.

To address this, P.F. Chang’s expanded its longtime relationship with HotSchedules by implementing the Labor Optimization module (activity-based forecasting), supported by focused change management and data configuration. The result was a 1% reduction in labor cost across the business, up to 2%+ savings in some markets, and a 1.5% improvement in scheduling variability, delivering more consistent, predictable staffing and meaningful cost savings.

P.F. Chang’s

Candice Barnett

Senior Director of Operations