Hospitality having to rise to recruitment and retention challenges

Despite challenging trading conditions, the hospitality sector has recovered relatively quickly from the pandemic-necessitated extended shutdown. And despite some recent high profile casualties, overall it appears to be on a healthy growth path again.

But the industry has not been immune to the talent crisis affecting many sectors, and restaurants and hotels say they are finding it difficult to recruit skilled staff in an exceptionally tight market.

A recent report from the UK noted that the over-50s now make up more than a third of hospitality workers; labour shortages have meant companies have had to change tack when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff, including turning to older-aged workers.

According to Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the overall hospitality industry has witnessed a partial recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet he says international tourism figures, increased business costs and waning consumer demand mean a full recovery is some way off.

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“In particular, the outlook for food-led hospitality businesses – which were already subject to extremely tight margins pre-pandemic – going into 2024 remains extremely challenging. There seems to be a misconception that restaurants and cafes in local communities across the country are flourishing when this is not the case – almost 50 food-led businesses have ceased trading in November alone.”

Despite this, recruitment and retention of hospitality staff in what is a highly competitive, tightly stretched labour market remains an ongoing challenge for the industry, Cummins says.

Restaurant promoter and consultant Anthony Remedy agrees, noting that remote working has led to significantly reduced footfall in the city centre and this has had a huge knock-on impact on restaurants, bars and other venues.

Remedy says there are macro and micro issues affecting recruitment in hospitality, many of which it shares with other industries – housing, for example, which he believes is the main issue driving staff away from the industry.

“Many workers can’t afford to live in Dublin city or even county and that is taking away a lot of people who would like to work there, whether it’s a hotel or restaurant or venue. It’s a simple maths problem; they just can’t afford it or they can’t have a certain quality of life if they have to pay high rents.”

It’s a mixed picture, however; in his work, Remedy often sees restaurants that have no problems attracting skilled staff.

“Some places get CVs handed in every day of the week. People are drawn to work there, whether it’s gravitas, or the buzz around it, or that they have good working conditions and are well run. Other places really struggle because they might not have a forward-looking opinion on what they are doing and that doesn’t attract staff. Location also has a lot to do with it.”

“Talent is critical to the success of every hotel, restaurant or hospitality business,” says Micheline Corr, director of hospitality recruitment specialists The Firm. “The right talent can transform any enterprise and while part of the job is technical, attitude, ability to communicate, work with others and be front facing with customers is an enormous part of anyone’s success.”

Corr says employers in the sector are now “thinking outside the box” when seeking to recruit and retain staff, becoming increasingly innovative as they hunt for skilled workers.

“Training is now a key factor in nurturing talent, with employers increasingly looking to online training,” she explains. “Staff at Dalata Hotel Group, for example, have completed 113,000 online courses.”

Antisocial hours are also being addressed, with hotels offering “life-friendly” hours, she adds. “They are accommodating employees who are parents by adjusting work and hours to fit in with school times, for example.”

Cummins agrees that restaurants are rising to the challenge, offering a clear career path for those keen to work in the sector.

“We are proud of how so many individual restaurants have adapted to these circumstances and of the industrywide effort being made to ensure that a career in hospitality is a far more attractive long-term prospect through enhanced training and development processes, more transparent and accessible pathways to promotion and more,” he says.

The notion that hospitality mainly employs a transient workforce is outdated, Corr adds.

“Hospitality offers diverse opportunities and scope for promotion advancement and different career paths,” she says.