Hospitality staffing issues

The industry-wide staffing challenge is undeniable, with a noticeable gap in the availability of experienced staff. It's worth noting that there isn't a shortage of willingness, & we see this as an opportunity for growth and development. Our approach has always focused on our product, people & place. While there's a clear need to hire less experienced staff in some roles, we believe that with the right training & attitude, these individuals can excel in their roles & be future leaders within the industry.

2024 is a pivotal year for us as we launch an extensive internal training program. This initiative is not just about skill-building but empowering our team to grow with the brand. The current climate has fostered a spirit of community within the hospitality sector, encouraging the sharing of knowledge & experience. We're optimistic about the future, knowing that investing in our people is the best way to ensure excellence in every coffee we serve.

I am a London based independent HR Consultant and I work with SME clients in the hospitality sector. Having worked with hospitality clients before and after the pandemic, I have seen a real struggle to find quality staff and particularly chefs. It has resulted in one of my clients having to close their local bistro.

With the cost of living crisis, energy prices have adversely affected hospitality businesses which has resulted on more pressures on SME hospitality business owners.

One answer is to use less skilled staff but another could be to make the sector more diverse and inclusive. The recruitment shortage is challenging hospitality and other sectors to look at a wider talent pool.

As a career coaching professional with a background in recruitment, I've noticed a decline in the quality of hospitality staff over the last five years.

It's disheartening to see that many individuals lack basic knowledge, such as describing different wines or understanding the contents of a cheese board.

This trend is particularly noticeable in my local area, despite a college
consistently producing well-trained hospitality students every year. I believe this decline is due to a broader issue of misalignment between educational institutions and employers.

The evident lack of communication and collaboration between colleges and hospitality businesses hinders the smooth transition of students into the workforce. This gap is especially noticeable in the hospitality sector, given its customer-facing nature, where the absence of essential skills is easily noticeable.

This is a time of reset in the industry. It is catching up with other industries and going through some pain.
Hard working people are out there but skilled hospitality professionals, especially chefs are few and far. If you want to fill a role with a skilled, experienced worker, you have a better chance of achieving that if you role offers something different to the rest. This could be better hours, some decent benefits, or a financial package which sets you apart from the competition. If this is not possible, look to train someone and invest time into someone from another sector. There are always people looking for a change in career, you just need to be open minded and be willing to invest time.

This is a huge issue for UK hospitality - that urgently needs addressig. Since Brexit, a shortage of expereinced staff is costing the secot £25 billion in un-met customer demand (Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality). With the talent pool shrinking - the solution has to come from training the next generation of British workers, to help train them on the essential skills required for a career in this industry. However, with staff turnover rates at a record high (150%) and the majority of staff leaving within the first 90 days - there is a huge issue not just with recruitment but with crucial staff training! That's why we created Blend - TikTok meets workplace training for deskless workers - on a mission to train Gen-Z workers on essential skills to get them onboarded into Hospitality jobs. Our start-up, backed by leading UK angel investors, allows Hospitality businesses to create their own training content, in bite-size, video-first language, in orde to engage Gen-Z workers and help them stay!