More than two-thirds of people (69%) working in hospitality see their role as a career, with those most likely to view their position as long-term with development opportunities are those working in bar management or working for larger operators, according to the latest research from the Licensed Trade Charity, in association with KAM.
The newest employees within a business (those with under one year’s experience) were most likely to see hospitality as a career (83%), compared to just over half of people (54%) who had worked in the sector for 10 years or more.
This suggests, says KAM, that those working in the industry for a while are least likely to promote it as a career.
The research also showed that employees felt under pressure from staff shortages (37%). Employees were asked to name the worst things about working in hospitality, with reduced income (21%), extra shifts (19%), high customer expectations (14%) and job security being listed in the top five.
The pressure, due to staff shortages, was felt across all age groups, but most keenly experienced by the 55-64 year olds (46.3%). And it was those who had worked in the industry over one year who were showing the most fatigue, with results being pretty evenly high among the those employed for 3-5 years (38.8%), 10+ years (38.7%) and 5-10 years (37.5%).
Almost 50% of the employees who took part in the survey felt that people who work in hospitality are emotionally resilient, with only 5% in disagreement.
One in 10 respondents to the survey saw the signposting by their employers of services provided by the Licensed Trade Charity as a way of taking care of them. But more than one third (37%) chose ‘none of the above’, when answering a question about specific support and services (from employee assistance programmes to healthcare and support) being provided by their company to take care of staff. KAM says this suggests that large portion of the hospitality community feel employers should be doing more in this area.
Those employees with 10 years or more service (37%) and those who worked in businesses with more than 100 sites (38%) had the greatest awareness of the Licensed Trade Charity.
The Licensed Trade Charity’s Chief Executive James Brewster said: “It was heartening to see that 69% of hospitality employees see their role as a career, but our research also shows this reduces with the length of employment in the industry, perhaps suggesting that people who have worked in the sector for longer aren’t seeing the opportunities they hoped for. It also implies that those who have worked in the sector the longest, won’t be promoting it as a long-term career.
“The Licensed Trade Charity was pleased to see that awareness of our charity services had increased in recent years, however, there was still much work to be done, especially among those new to the industry and working in smaller businesses.
“The charity is here to provide anyone and everyone working in licensed hospitality with support. As well as using our services themselves, individual licensees can promote our services to their staff, to provide support and assistance at all times. Whether it’s using our Helplines to offload or to discuss worries, or to find out what grants and help there is available, whether you are a licensee of a pub or the chief executive of a pub chain, our services are free for all to use.”
Source, KAM conducted 352 interviews with pub staff throughout the UK between August 31 and September 15, 2022.
For a copy of the Licensed Trade Charity On-trade Employee Research 2022, produced by KAM, please contact [email protected]