The reasons behind staff deserting hospitality and what employers can do to reverse it

As the surrealness of the past year begins to fade and restrictions on freedoms slowly lift, the first thing most people wanted to do, aside from getting their extended families into a massive group-hug, was finally take a break from their own cooking and head out to dinner and drinks. Lord knows there’s only so many nights you can have pasta and pesto, before it takes its toll on your mind, body and spirit.

Filling the restaurant tables was never going to be a problem. But with shutters flying up enthusiastically after months of closure, it’s hasn’t been a shortage of customers that’s challenged the already gasping hospitality industry, it’s been a serious shortage of staff. 

55% of employees in working in hospitality remained on furlough last month (May 2021), according to the Office for National Statistics.

And that’s in comparison to 8% of staff still on furlough in all other industries. Considering pubs, restaurants and bars opened for indoor and outdoor dining on May 17th 2021, the figure suggests that more than half are operating with reduced staff levels. 

Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, commented to the BBC, ‘Around 80% of members are reporting that they have vacancies at the moment, and some of them are reporting that they are struggling to fill those vacancies.’ 

Scott Holden who owns Scott’s All Day on Mill Road in Cambridge can sympathise, in part. His restaurant opened just six months before the first lockdown so to say this period has been tough, is an understatement. ‘We quickly reinvented ourselves as a takeaway, but we have a relatively large premises, and didn’t have a large cash reserve, so really had to run a tight operation to stop it from all going under. 

‘As soon as the furlough scheme was announced we were very relieved. All staff were placed on it and as soon as we could bring them all back, we did. Our staff have been great - working extra hard every time a reopening comes to get the restaurant ready and adapting to new ways of working. They are also under incredible stress, worried about their job security in the future and worried about catching COVID from being in a busy space. 

‘We have managed to find some amazing new front of house employees and the applicant turn out for these has been incredible. A recent waiter position that we posted received 90 applicants. But, we have found it very difficult to hire chefs. A sous chef position we’ve advertised for has had two applications.’

Gabby Scott manages The Plough in Coton and has had a similar experience. She says, ‘We are struggling to find experienced and competent staff for both front of house and in the kitchen,’ says Gabby, who feels the furlough scheme has a part to play in the struggle to recruit new staff.  

‘We have managed to hire staff front-of-house and on a part-time capacity, but we are struggling to find full-time chefs.’

A shortage of chefs is a particular issue across the UK. A study by Centre for London back I early 2019 showed that 20,000 chefs were leaving the profession every year. And that “chef” was the most in demand job title in London on the UK’s largest job website, Indeed. And that was THEN. 

A study out this month by CV Library shows 41% of hospitality workers have left the sector since the onset of COVID, 40% said that the pandemic had made the sector too unpredictable, 33% said that COVID had made them re-think their career whereas 25.3% blamed poor pay. 

Why does Gabby think it is? ‘It’s partly due to the uncertainty of COVID and any impending lockdown and/or restrictions, and partly people not wanting to come out of furlough to start a new job in the hospitality industry.’

Caitlin Allwood was formerly front of house at Alimentum, Cambridge and has a front row seat to the crisis as it unfolds as Operations Manager of Tonic Recruitment, specialising in hospitality 

‘We're finding that every type of hospitality business is struggling to find the right people at the moment, from top-end, Michelin starred/accoladed restaurants to high-street/fast-casual.

‘Even before the pandemic, most hospitality businesses struggled to find good staff. Staff retention in the sector has always been quite poor and I don't think enough people see it as a good career choice. Throw into the mix a pandemic and Brexit, and I suppose it has exacerbated problems that were very much already there. 

‘I'm aware of hospitality workers that are simply dreading going back to the long working days of hospitality. This crisis has given them time with friends/loved ones, time to take up hobbies and to get in shape and take better care of themselves. They simply don't want to go back to the way things were. People now want a better quality of life and there just isn't enough hospitality businesses that offer that.’

And what about the struggle to recruit chefs in particular? Caitlin Says, ‘When I lived in Cambridge and worked at Alimentum, even when we had a Michelin star, it was difficult to find good chefs and that was pre-COVID!

‘It’s now a candidate-led market, so we're seeing a lot of candidates receiving counter-offers. Most candidates we've worked with are getting multiple job offers and businesses know it's tough finding good hospitality staff at the moment, so they outbid any offer another employer has made. It's really difficult for a business to keep upping the salary in this situation but it's not all about the money. 

‘Employers really need to make sure they are making their business look like an attractive one to work in. They need to think: “Is my business an inclusive one? Can I offer career progression? Stability? Real benefits and work-life balance?”’

And like everyone, Caitlin was holding her breath to see what happened next. ‘There can't be any setbacks now in terms of the roadmap. Any delays, even by a couple of weeks, would be a death sentence for businesses who are just about breaking even.’

Unfortunately for many, a further extension was added and full restrictions won’t now lift until July 19th. New nightclub for Cambridge, MASH, had planned for and recruited staff ready for opening night on June 23rd which is now postponed and owner Louise Holly is disappointed. ‘It sucks that it has been pushed back, but the data has been pretty clear - the opening was unlikely. For me the biggest issue has been the lack of notice we received. One week’s notice to businesses that have been closed for so long just isn't good enough.

‘It's going to cost us a huge amount of money, when you take into account the predicted revenue and all the bills to pay for the July 1st, with no revenue coming in, it's going to be a difficult few weeks.’

And what about recruitment? Louise says, ‘Recruiting staff for MASH has actually been OK and we are a living wage employer so I think that has helped us to recruit good staff. However, there is no doubt that it is a much harder jobs-market at the moment. Pre-pandemic we would average up to 100 applicants per position in the nightclub industry, whereas now we are looking at 30-40 on average. There is no doubt in order to get good staff, wages are having to increase.’