Wages are rising. The smartest landscaping operators are using that to their advantage.
In the 2025 Lawn & Landscape Benchmarking Report, industry leaders like E.A. Quinn Landscaping and Meridian Landscaping aren’t shying away from higher wages—they’re embracing them as a strategy for growth and retention.
But they also know something every operator should keep in mind: If labor costs are going up, labor efficiency has to go up too.
As Matt Bagshaw, VP of Operations at E.A. Quinn, put it:
“The best way we go about trying to fight inflation and rising costs is by honing in on efficiencies and ways to do things quicker and better.”
He’s not alone. Tim Gardiner of Meridian Landscaping emphasized that retention and training—paired with proactive raises—are key to staying competitive and profitable.
“We try to give people pay raises proactively and sit down and provide a career ladder to them.”
Paying more is no longer optional. So the question becomes: How do you make every labor dollar deliver more value—without burning out your team?
The Answer Isn’t Working Harder. It’s Working Smarter.
Wage increases are here to stay—thanks to everything from H-2B wage mandates to competitive hiring pressure. But operators who rely on instinct or gut feel alone risk watching their margins quietly erode.
The solution? Operational visibility.
Here’s How You Make Labor Pay
1. Know Your Efficiency Numbers
You can’t improve what you can’t see. Most companies track labor hours. Few truly analyze them.
Smart operators go beyond the basics by tracking:
- Which properties consistently go over hours
- Which crews outperform—and why
- Where travel time is eating production
- What tasks are dragging down job efficiency
When you analyze labor at the property and crew level, inefficiencies stop hiding in the averages.
2. Tie Performance to Cost
You’re paying more per hour, so each hour has to deliver more. With historical job costing at your fingertips, you can answer:
- Did this contract generate a margin last year—or just look good on paper?
- Are we justifying our price increases with improved output?
- Is this crew trending up in productivity—or flatlining?
One BomData customer uncovered hundreds of wasted hours across a few top properties—simply by drilling into labor variance by crew and service. That’s the kind of insight that turns cost into opportunity.
3. Catch Margin Leaks Before They Add Up
It’s not enough to run numbers at the end of the season.
If a crew is underperforming, or a property is trending over hours, you can’t afford to wait six months to find out. Weekly visibility into:
- Estimated vs. actual hours
- Labor variance by property
- Top underperforming jobs
…gives your team the info they need to make small adjustments before they become big problems.
How BomData Makes This Easy
You don’t need another spreadsheet. You need insight—fast.
BomData pulls labor data directly from Aspire and delivers clear dashboards built for operators, not analysts. At a glance, you’ll see:
- Which properties are hurting your margins
- Which crews need support—or recognition
- Where labor dollars are being lost
- What’s trending over time so you can plan smarter next season
Our Property Analytics dashboard shows your highest labor variances at a glance. Drill into time by task, by week, by crew. No manual reports. No data wrangling. Just answers.
For busy branch managers and ops leaders, BomData delivers quick, visual summaries that help you lead with confidence—and coach your teams with clarity.
Pay More. Expect More.
Paying competitive wages is the right move, but expecting more value from every labor hour is how great operators stay profitable—especially in a high-cost market.
With tools like BomData, you can make smarter decisions, coach crews more effectively, and protect your margin while investing in your people.Don’t let higher wages shrink your margin.
Schedule a demo to see how BomData helps landscaping teams turn data into dollars.