Earlier this year Youth Employment UK Ambassador Courtney gave evidence to the UK Hospitality Workforce Commission 2030 regarding the reputation of the hospitality amongst young people, we are delighted to see Courtney’s voice and experience be heard and taking forward as part of the recommendations.
Download the full report hereThe hospitality sector
The sector employs 3.2 million people, produces £130 billion of economic activity, represents 10% of the UK workforce is one of the only sectors to have roles in every constituency in the UK. On top of this the sector aims to create an additional 66,000 new jobs and up to 200,000 new apprenticeships over the next five years.
With the size and growth of the sector set to increase there is work to do to encourage more people, particularly young people in to the sector.
Recommendations:
Recruitment and retention
1. A cross-industry, national campaign to eliminate negative perceptions of hospitality careers
2. DWP/industry collaboration to showcase careers information and the ‘best face of the industry’
3. Adapt schools outreach to enable direct dialogue between hospitality businesses and students
Skills and workplace learning
4. Industry to attract and retain employees via lifelong learning and on-the-job training
5. Government should promote and value the benefits and transferability of ‘soft skills’
6. Conduct an urgent review of the effectiveness of the Apprenticeship Levy, increase the transfer fund cap to 50% and tackle the costs of off-the-job training
Diversity
7. Immigration policy must be evidenced-based, tailored to hospitality workforce needs
8. Industry to achieve greater workforce diversity best practice through employment contract flexibility
9. Government support for workforce upskilling to encourage older and ‘harder to place’ workers into the sector, or back into employment
