‘HUGE progress’ has been made in reducing the hospitality industry’s crippling vacancy rate, with new figures suggesting that businesses are having more success in recruiting, training and retaining a skilled workforce.
While trade groups maintained there is still work to be done, a combination of better pay and working conditions is said to have had an impact across the industry.
This month, UK Hospitality issued an update on the progress of its Workforce Strategy, noting that UK-wide, 57,000 vacancies had been filled since the peak of the staff shortages, producing a record level of 2.7 million people employed in the sector, according to the Office for National Statistics.
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “We can’t kid ourselves that the work is complete because there is plenty more to do, but what we can and should do is recognise the achievements driven by our Workforce Strategy.
“Recruitment, skills and training, working lives, image of the sector and infrastructure were pinpointed in the strategy as key areas of focus and they remain the driving force.”
UKH Scotland executive director, Leon Thompson said: “As a sector, we’ve responded to the recruitment crisis in innovative and imaginative ways. This includes Hospitality Rising, an industry owned, led and funded recruitment drive, attracting younger workers into hospitality. Whilst our partnership with the DWP here in Scotland means vacancies are successfully reaching older job seekers.
“These initiatives are two important pillars of UKH’s workforce strategy, through which we’re highlighting the variety of exciting jobs and rewarding careers available.”
At ground level, the recruitment crisis has obliged businesses to go several extra miles to make their vacancies viable for local workers.
In the Highlands, The Seaforth restaurant and bar in Ullapool, had to cease trading two days a week during the pandemic because of a chronic lack of workers and rental accommodation.
The business responded by purchasing a local motel to accommodate workers, and has now gone further, introducing online skills training, personal mental health courses, free leisure access and optional half days – and been rewarded with a return to 100% staffing levels.
On a more macro-level, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association has launched a tie-up with a UK recruitment firm Xpressjobs to attract more staff to hospitality and tourism north of the border.
SLTA managing director, Colin Wilkinson, said: “Recruiting staff is consistently one of the top three challenges highlighted by those operating in the hospitality sector.
“This partnership with renowned hospitality recruitment specialists Xpressjobs will offer our members a package of options giving them that extra support, guidance and professionalism to achieve the best results for their recruitment needs.”
