CAVA plans to hire 2,500 workers, boost internal promotions in 2026

CAVA’s plan to hire more than 2,500 team members in 2026 and open more than 75 restaurants says the restaurant labor market is still tight enough that chains are chasing the same people with bigger promises. The fast-casual brand said the push is tied to its Flavor Your Future platform, with a new Assistant General Manager role, more leadership development and a deeper bench of future managers.

The numbers behind that push matter for Taco Bell workers because they show how aggressively competitors are building internal career ladders. CAVA said it had already surpassed its goal of filling more than 150 AGM roles this year, and that 60% of those assistant general managers were promoted from within after the role launched in December 2025. The company also said all general managers are now eligible for long-term incentive equity grants, a retention tool that goes beyond hourly pay and schedule promises.

For Taco Bell crew members, shift leaders and restaurant managers, that is the kind of competition that can change what a job offer feels like. Taco Bell’s careers site says jobs are open at both corporate-owned restaurants and independently owned franchisee and licensee locations, and that its portal recently listed more than 40,000 open jobs. The brand also leans on flexible schedules, growth opportunities and leadership development courses for general managers, all of which are meant to make the job look like a career path instead of a dead end.

Taco Bell has been trying to prove that path exists inside its own stores. In company-owned restaurants in 2025, 67% of restaurant leadership roles were filled through internal promotion, team member retention improved 17% year over year, and restaurant general manager vacancy dropped 27%. The company says top-performing team members are promoted to their next role in under a year on average, while general managers average 10 years with the brand. That matters because a chain that can show quick promotion timelines has a better shot at holding onto people when rivals are advertising the same thing.

The benefits pitch is part of the same fight. Taco Bell says its Live Más Scholarship and GED Certification Program are part of how it frames the job as a launching pad. In April 2026, the Taco Bell Foundation said it awarded a record $14.5 million in Live Más Scholarships, after receiving more than 41,000 applications and handing out more than 1,500 awards, about 60% of them renewals. In 2023, the foundation awarded $2 million in scholarships exclusively to Taco Bell team members.

Jamie Harrison, Taco Bell’s global chief people and culture officer, said he started on the front line and knows how support can open doors that once felt out of reach. That is the real benchmark here: when CAVA and Taco Bell are both selling promotion, flexibility and development, workers have more evidence to judge who is paying, scheduling and promoting well enough to keep them.