A Clear and Present Danger: Attracting staff back to hospitality

It’s been a very tough and turbulent time for many businesses since March 2020. Alongside travel and retail, hospitality has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s been an unprecedented year for hospitality; not only could venues only trade for a limited time, but when they did manage to open they could only do so with limited capacities, new social distancing regulations and they had to adopt a whole new mobile app orientated process. Enough to make your head spin!

However tough the past 12 months have been, what’s been humbling is seeing how the hospitality industry has pulled together to offer services and facilities to the community during uncertain times. Pubs and restaurants cooked meals for the vulnerable, hotels stayed open for essential workers and furloughed staff volunteered within the community or the NHS, to mention a few initiatives. One thing you can never say about the hospitality industry is they lack passion, grit and professionalism.

As we see the industry slowly re-open, what’s concerning is how do we attract young people back to work in hospitality? For the best part of 12 months, many of this young workforce have adapted and found alternative income whilst being furloughed from their day-to-day place of work. They’ve taken on a variety of other jobs, from delivery driving and warehouse working to launching businesses, having had the time to develop personal business aspirations.

Many have also managed to fill positions that have been vital in keeping the country going and have somehow landed on their feet in a better, more secure, position. None of these candidates would have ever thought they would be in the position they have been in over the past year, so finding that they are in demand from other sectors presents opportunities and security they welcome with open arms.

One supermarket chain, that will remain nameless, has announced a rather cunning plan to ensure that some of their current employees don’t return to the hospitality industry. They are increasing their driver’s pay to £10 per hour, which is a real and present danger to those hospitality employers that provide less compensation. 

The flight risk is lower where the more senior hospitality staff are concerned, as this is their career and they’ve worked hard to cultivate it, dedicating many years to an industry they love – they cannot wait to return to normal. However, the backbone of the hospitality industry is comprised of Commis Chefs, Kitchen Porters, Floor Staff, Runners, etc., and these are the positions that many young people fill, thus the labour supply may be scarce for some time. This, coupled with the lack of consistency in Catering Schools over the past 12 months, presents many problems we need to solve.

How can our agency save you?

Just like Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan, we can save you from these dangers when it comes to attracting hospitality staff back to your business.

How? Well, we are the specialists, with over 15 years’ experience in the industry. We work day and night to source the best talent and how do we know it’s the best? Through our long-established connections, screening processes, training programmes and sheer tenacity and resilience in the quest.

Whether you’ve got a temporary or permanent requirement for staff, or need someone at short notice to fill a gap, we’ve got it covered. But don’t wait too long to scramble us, the summer rush is coming as the world starts to re-open and you need to act now to ensure you have adequate resourcing levels.

Let us let you focus on your core business and relieve you of the hassle of finding trained, ready-to-go and reliable people.

To discuss how we can support your business please contact Nic Bevan, our Hospitality Recruitment Manager, on 01242 505400 or nicb@rerecruitment.com