The number of employees at Sonic Corporation has been steadily decreasing in recent years, with 4,650 restaurant employees and 391 corporate employees in 2018. This compares to 9,200 restaurant employees and 420 corporate employees in 2016.
Sonic Corporation
Sonic Corporation is the operating company of the U.S. drive-through quick service chain Sonic.
In 2018, there were 3,427 franchised and 179 company-owned Sonic drive-ins. The number of company-owned establishments has fallen by over half since 2015, accounting for the decline in Sonic’s restaurant employees. This also explains why Sonic’s total revenue has declined in recent years
while their net profit has increased.
Quick service restaurants in the United States
Sonic Corporation is owned by Inspire Brands, who are also the parent company of fellow limited service chains Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings. Arby’s and Sonic maintain a similar number of locations nationally, but both are far behind industry leaders Subway and McDonalds.
In 2018, U.S. 'fast food' restaurants generated total revenues of around 256 billion U.S. dollars.