The race for talent in hotel and catering
Good pay, fixed working hours, nice teams. Being allowed to work where others spend their holidays – a dream! If you believe the job advertisements, there are only great jobs in the hotel and catering industry. If you look at the figures, the much-cited skilled labor shortage has now developed into a genuine labor shortage. Nowadays, you can consider yourself lucky if you manage to fill all positions, so you can't afford to be picky. Better unskilled workers than none at all – and even those are sometimes hard to come by.
Only the toughest survive, and the hotel and catering industry is gearing up. No wonder, since it is about nothing less than one's own existence. Many a peace-loving restaurateur bares their claws and resorts to methods that can only be described as questionable. One even hears that some particularly clever ones go to the neighboring business for a schnitzel and take the service staff with them.
The real question is: What do I gain as an employer by attracting staff who soon realize that working hours are less flexible than expected and that "working where others go on vacation" only means watching from the sidelines? Those who make false promises will lose their newly acquired skilled workers faster than you can say "employee bonus."
The fact is: margins are tight, and the workday doesn't end until the last guest leaves of their own accord. That's just how it is in this industry, and that won't change. So how are you supposed to make a profession appealing that demands everything from you? One that requires hard work, discipline, and total commitment?
With honesty! Create excellent working conditions and talk about them loudly and clearly. It doesn't have to be an astronomical salary or a 4-day workweek. Anyone who chooses a job in tourism usually does so knowing that working hours are not the most family-friendly and that a corporate lawyer will probably earn more than they do. But working in tourism has a lot to offer – for true hosts out of passion, no other industry comes into question.
Previous results from PERSENTIS have also clearly shown that calculative factors such as salary, equipment, or working hours carry far less weight than one might assume. Fair pay is, of course, a basic prerequisite, but team spirit, the opportunity for professional development, and a set of values that one can gladly identify with matter much more.
