The hospitality skills crisis is deepening, with more than a quarter of businesses within the sector claiming they employ staff lacking the skills needed for their jobs.
People 1st’s annual State of the Nation report found 26 per cent of businesses within hospitality employ staff they view as not fully proficient in their jobs – equivalent to 180,000 people.
This compares with 19 per cent, or 140,000 people working within the sector, two years ago.
Worryingly it also comes despite the fact that hospitality spends £2,575 per employee on training a year, compared to the average across all industries of the economy of £1,725.
Customer service skills gap
Customer service skills remain the most common skills gap across the sector. 65 per cent of businesses who reported skills gaps in their workforce stated that their staff lacked the required customer service skills, an increase from 57 per cent in 2007.
Other skill shortage areas included management, leadership, IT and chef skills.
Despite an easing in finding and retaining staff in general due to the recession, employers said recruiting trained chefs remained a challenge.
Staff turnover remains high
Irrespective of the recession, Labour turnover across the sector stood at 31 per cent in 2009, the highest of all sectors of the economy.
The hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector is one of the UK’s largest employers. It employs almost two million people (1,887,700), which equates to 7 per cent of all UK jobs.