'Surge' in UK workers seeking hospitality jobs

A survey of 1,200 workers conducted as part of the hospitality recruitment platform's latest ‘Hospitality Hiring Insider’ report reveals that 2.9 million people are currently thinking of making a move into hospitality from another sector, with 2.1 million considering a role in hospitality as an additional job.

Whilst movement in and out has remained relatively steady compared with 2021, those moving into the sector grew from 22% in 2021 to 26% in 2022 - representing a real-terms increase of 18%.

In addition, UK-based Google searches for hospitality jobs rose by 23% between 2021 and 2022.

The common reasons being wanting to start a new hospitality job are; people wanting a more sociable job (30% of people considering); to secure an additional income (27%); for greater flexibility (25%) and for ongoing job security (24%).

Meanwhile, the biggest uplift in applications per vacancy seen by Caterer.com has been for barista management roles followed by food and beverage and hotel roles. Regionally, the data suggests hospitality roles in the East Midlands are most in demand, followed by Wales and the West Midlands.

“It is very positive to see that more homegrown UK talent is turning to the hospitality sector for work,” says Kathy Dyball, director at Caterer.com.

“It demonstrates just how valuable the hospitality sector is to UK employment, and how much it has to offer employees.

“A huge part of the success of any hospitality business depends on its people, so to continue on this positive trend, it’s crucial that in 2023 employers focus on delivering the outstanding workplace experience that talent want, to encourage more candidates to the industry and be retained within it.”