Delia Cannings, Deputy Chair, UKHA Midlands Committee, reports.
During these summer months, the hospitality industry faces an even more difficult struggle with vacancies than earlier in the year. The number of UK job vacancies are currently running at an exceptionally high level and have been for some while.
Hospitality businesses are among the worst hit by this recruitment crisis. Figures from the Office for National Statistics from May 2023 show a staggering 132,000 vacancies in the sector, 48 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels.
And seasonal requirements mean that hospitality businesses are more than twice as likely as other industries to be experiencing challenges in filling vacancies compared with normal expectations for this time of year. This means that finding cleaning and housekeeping staff is a major headache for our hotels, pubs and restaurants.
Even before the pandemic the hospitality sector had been facing significant issues with finding cleaning and housekeeping staff. The industry had a reputation for high levels of employee churn, a lack of skilled staff and a poor reputation on hours, so there was a constant chase for talented employees. When Brexit and the pandemic happened, they had a much larger effect than in some other sectors with one in five workers leaving hospitality, according to some figures.
With many staff in the sector traditionally coming from overseas, many were migrant workers returning home. Many of those furloughed during the pandemic also rethought their career choices. So now, hospitality employers are faced with the immense task of having to quickly restaff and reskill their workforce, drawing from a fragile and fragmented labour market. Some former staff do not want to return because they felt they were viewed as a number on a spreadsheet and were let go with what felt like ease during the pandemic. Some potential new joiners are being put off as they believe there are no clear career progression routes or opportunities in hospitality, and it is low paid with a great deal of workplace stress. There are plenty of other openings to choose from.
So now we have an industry where guests expect more, and we have less staff to provide the service. We need to be developing a new generation of hospitality professionals and investing in their education and development, whilst not forgetting to offer these opportunities to our existing staff. This will ensure that the industry can maintain sustainability by pushing forward with continued education, development and career growth to maximise potential and optimise output.
I believe employers need to be considering a whole new suite of initiatives to attract and retain staff, such as:
- Identifying clear progression routes across all the disciplines.
- Development plans linked to accredited training qualifications.
- Reviewing and implementing competitive salary scales.
- Introducing contracted hours with paid overtime.
- Working hours allowing for a meaningful work life balance.
- Developing innovative recruitment strategies featuring virtual events and social media
- Rewarding current staff for ‘recommending’ new joiners
- Developing an approach to attract leavers back to the industry.
- Implementing wellbeing programmes to support staff and improve retention.
This situation is offering us an opportunity to radically reshape what we do and how we do it. We have already identified the negatives, so let’s move forward and showcase the skill, passion and innovation that we in hospitality have in abundance.
Our aim should be to create a reforming, innovative industry that potential employees are scrabbling to get into, rather than scrabbling to leave. I would also appeal to colleagues in the housekeeping and wider cleaning sector to support the work of the British Cleaning Council and, in particular, back our campaign to lobby MPs to make cleaning and hygiene a national priority.
Please visit the BCC website - www.britishcleaningcouncil.org - and scan the QR code to find out how to support the campaign, it should only take a few minutes of your time. Thank you.
www.ukha.co.uk
About the contributor
Delia Cannings
Chair
British Cleaning Council