Hospitality workforce approaching a perfect storm

COMMENT

The hospitality industry is experiencing a "perfect storm" where older talent is leaving the workforce and young people are steering away from jobs in restaurants and hotels.

Young workers dominate the hospitality workforce – 43 per cent of employees are 15 to 24 years old and 20 per cent are aged between 45 and 64, and if there are not enough new employees to replace the older talent, a workforce bubble will burst. This places a huge responsibility on the shoulders of Generation Z (that is, anyone born between 1995 and 2009) to ensure continuity in the hospitality labour market.

So how do we attract young people to an industry that has a 28 per cent job vacancy rate? The fundamental question about pay must be reviewed. Employers must be realistic and ensure that minimum wages are paid according to the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010. It is also important for the government to realign the minimum wages of hospitality to be more competitive with other industry sectors. Recruiters will need to be more transparent and disclose the pay bracket in their job ads.

Gen Z has a huge appetite for success and are highly concerned about their career pathway. They expect to move up the career ladder quickly. It is important to engage in discussions about pragmatic pathways and planning for their long-term success through management training opportunities and leadership development courses.

Working with Cindy Lee from Torrens University Australia, I talked to Gen Z hospitality students about their perceptions towards working in the industry. Some students voiced fears of the hospitality industry's reputation for bullying, which may be a product of shows such as Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. We found that when Gen Z apply for a hospitality job, they are more interested in the dynamics and happiness of working rather than the specific job attributes. Recruiters must clearly articulate the job to be interesting, exciting, fulfilling and fun, not a typical nine-to-five job.

The opportunity to travel and work across different departments and countries must also be promoted as Gen Z candidates see themselves as global hospitality employees. Large hospitality companies can hold "open days" for young people to get to know the business better and increase their confidence. This will also give them a reality check to see whether they are cut out for the industry.

Interestingly, Gen Z views the support of family and friends highly when seeking a career in hospitality. Hospitality recruiters should also engage family members and get them involved in the early stages of the job-seeking decision process, inviting family members to career expos and hospitality open days to help parents gain some understanding of the industry.

As the recruitment battles intensify for share of young hospitality talent, employers must ask themselves "what does Generation Z want in a hospitality career?".

Dr Edmund Goh is a senior lecturer at the School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University. He is the co-author of A workforce to be reckoned with: The emerging pivotal Generation Z hospitality workforce, published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management.