UKH: ‘Challenges remain around seeing hospitality as a career of choice’

Discussions with government about fixing the long-term staffing crisis are improving following the launch of business minister Paul Scully’s Hospitality Strategy, UKHospitality’s director of strategic affairs Tony Sophoclides has said, but there are still challenges to overcome.

In terms of the importance of promoting careers in hospitality, and the conversations that are being had with government, “we are in a better place now than we were”, he said.

Sophoclides, alongside fellow panellist Mark Derry, executive chairman of Brasserie Bar Co, highlighted the need to encourage people to consider hospitality as a career of choice.

Derry suggested the government could help by not labelling hospitality work as ’unskilled’. “While many will recognise it’s not rocket science, get me a couple of astro-physicists and put them on the front line on a Friday night and they will find that there will be a very large gap in their skill base.”

He suggested it was potentially an issue of attitude: “People working in our industry are skilled and they are simply not recognised for it.”

ONS data released this week indicates the total number of payrolled employees in the hospitality sector increased to over 1.8 million in June 2021, from a low of 1.7 million in March 2021. However, payrolled employees remain 11% below a pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic figure of 2.1 million.

In the period April to June 2021 there were an estimated 102,000 job vacancies in hospitality, nearly five and a half times higher than the 19,000 recorded in December to February 2021, and 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Responding to a question about what UKHospitality has been doing to improve the image of hospitality in the eyes of government, Sophoclides stated that, “there is that conversation happening, and we are getting far better traction on it”.

Referring to the 12-point plan issued by UKHospitality in June to tackle the current staffing crisis and attract people longer-term to jobs and careers in the sector, he said: “We issued a 12-point plan for hospitality, much of which was based on the premise of promoting careers. It’s down to a 10-point plan now because there are one or two things we have achieved – one of them was to do with settled status.”

And referring to the recent launch of the Hospitality Strategy by Paul Scully, Sophoclides said. “Jobs and skills will be one of those areas that we are looking strongly at with government. We have had a series of workshops with DWP and JobCentre Plus and that is just the beginning of it.

“Before Covid hit we already had UKH plans for a fairly fancy national campaign around careers in hospitality,” he continued, in terms of promoting them, “and that is just as acutely needed, if not more, now. But the difference being we have got some support behind it from government as well.”

“There are a lot of challenges to overcome,” Sophoclides concluded.