16.08.2024

Sun, sea and shifting sands – why summer presents challenges for the catering sector

By Kasia Krieger, business manager at Pineapple Recruitment

There’s no hiding the fact that this year we’ve faced a rollercoaster summer here in the UK. A landslide General Election, a new government with new ideas, a variety of pressures on the private and public sectors, and more recently, unrest across dozens of our towns and cities.

Those are just a few high-profile examples from the past few months, but one industry which certainly hasn’t escaped scrutiny and pressure, is the country’s hospitality and catering sector.

The summer season is synonymous with travel, holidays, and a surge in activity for the hospitality industry. This year, however, things have moved in a different way, with a scorching number of vacancies and a continually changing landscape for catering and hospitality jobs.

The great summer staff scramble

The people issue, especially around those with the right level of ability, interest and attitude, has been at the centre of the hospitality sector’s worries this summer, and of course in the preceding months. It hasn’t happened overnight, but put simply, recruiting and retaining the right people has been a continuous challenge, with all businesses doing everything they can to overcome the shortage and skills gaps – including selling industry careers through new digital recruitment tactics, which includes placing additional resources behind social media platforms and targeted strategies through the likes of TikTok and Instagram.

Being absolutely honest, it's a sad fact that the conclusion of the Covid pandemic continues to be felt four years on, with a significant labour shortage continuing to impact hotels, restaurants, and other catering and hospitality businesses. Many experienced employees exited the industry during the turbulent lockdown periods, moving to seek jobs with better pay, schedules, and work-life balance.

This trend has continued, and each summer since has seen a significant change with employees taking the opportunity to look for a fresh challenge away from the industry. This has resulted in a record number of open positions across the board, from chefs and servers, to housekeepers, catering assistants, and front desk staff. That’s pretty much every key position within a hospitality business.

A job market in flux

The current situation I’ve underlined really highlights a real-time, larger trend within hospitality and catering - employees are now seeking caring, professional employers who value them and make them feel like they belong. This trend has led, quite rightly, to responsible businesses re-evaluating their employee value proposition to attract and retain great talent. Aside from ongoing training and development, it has meant a revamp of websites, recruitment portals, employee-fronted video content, and even a realignment of mission statements, visions and values. Essentially, every single touchpoint where candidate’s engage.

While a review of those touchpoints has been vital, operationally, there’s three other trends which I believe hold the key to more long-term, sustained change:

Increased salaries and improved benefits: To compete for talent, hospitality businesses are now considering if they need to offer more competitive salary and compensation packages, whilst being clear about their pension schemes, bonus arrangements, and even other benefits such as discounted gym memberships. Pitched correctly, this can be a gamechanger.

Improved scheduling practices: More predictable schedules and working hours is another area being given closer consideration. For example, term time-only working for parents and opportunities for advancement can really help to entice workers to stay in the industry and achieve a better work-life balance, and;

Greater focus on employee wellbeing: The third trend is perhaps the most obvious one, but offering more benefits like mental health resources and access to childcare assistance are playing a role in making catering and hospitality careers more attractive. It shows a business that really does care and to many, goes the extra mile.

Summing up

While the summer of 2024 might be a season of scrambling for hospitality and catering businesses, it's also marked the beginning of a turning point. The industry is adapting to a new normal, one that should prioritise attracting and retaining talent for all the right reasons, including the points I’ve made above.

This will lead to a more sustainable and rewarding work environment for all involved, ensuring a brighter future for both catering and hospitality employees and the businesses they support.

Whether an employer looking for a long term recruitment partner to source great permanent talent across the catering and hospitality industry, or supporting candidates to find their dream job, it’s important that those across the industry continue to promote the benefits of working in a sector in which so many of us are so passionate about, and which can offer exceptional career opportunities.

Doing things differently, and not settling for old and outdated practices, really will be a gamechanger.

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