The skills and workforce development charity warned that hospitality and tourism is still being perceived as a short-term career path, and said the industry must unite to change perceptions.
It was responding to last week’s UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) list of 40 top jobs in ten key occupations, which made no mention of hospitality and tourism opportunities.
People 1st managing director Simon Tarr said the exclusion of hospitality jobs in the UKCES list was ‘concerning’.
“It highlights a key challenge we have as an industry. We are a huge employer,” he said.
“By 2020 we project that we will need to recruit an additional 844,000 people, yet despite this the hospitality and tourism industry didn’t get a mention.
“This highlights that we need to work harder and together to sell the opportunities of working in the sector.”
Career opportunities
The UKCES guide identified occupations based on pay, job opportunities and business needs. It excluded entry level jobs and focused on occupations offering a longer career path.
“This is at the heart of the problem,” explained Tarr. “We are perceived as only offering short-term job opportunities and not career pathways.
“However, our analysis shows that of the 843,800 people we need to recruit by 2020, 165,700 jobs are projected to be in managerial roles and 49,300 in craft roles.
“This means that just over a quarter of the sector’s recruitment in the next six years is going to be for higher skilled workers. This compares to 140,000 in construction and 50,000 in financial services.”
Tarr said the industry needs to get better at highlighting the speed with which people can climb the hospitality career ladder, and the variation of careers on offer in hospitality and tourism.
He called for a campaign that unites unites key industry brands and brings together key partners to promote hospitality jobs.
“This needs a concerted effort from everyone; employers and industry bodies alike must come together and collaborate on getting these messages out to job centres, schools, colleges and universities,” he said.
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