This month a pilot scheme was launched in Liverpool to help fill the 132,000 current vacancies in the hospitality sector. This is a collaboration between UKHospitality (the trade body for the British Hospitality Sector), the UK Government and Springboard, a charity that supports adults back into work.

The UK has been struggling to fill vacancies pre the pandemic and the most recent figures from The Office of National Statistics revealed that job vacancies are running at 48% higher than before the pandemic.

The UKHospitality trade body has been lobbying the government to add Chefs, Sommeliers, Housekeepers and Hospitality Supervisors to the Shortage of Workers List. This lobbying has also been supported by The British Beer and Pub Association as well as the British Institute of Innkeeping. These bodies are claiming that the challenges to recruit are the largest issue they have in meeting the current economic challenges, with some venues having to reduce their opening hours around staff availability.

This new scheme is designed to provide tailored training experience to job seekers, with practical hands-on learning opportunities, accredited training and qualifications, if the pilot scheme is a success there are plans to launch in other major cities across the UK, including London.

There are currently over 4000 chef vacancies on the industry job website chefjobs.co.uk and an industry report from 2019 highlighted some of the additional pressures facing the recruitment and retention of Chefs jobs.

The 3 main issues are: Hours and shift patterns with some chefs working 60-70 hours a week, rates of pay impacting retention, the industry is losing nearly 20,000 chefs a year (this was highlighted during the pandemic when chefs moved over to other jobs like driving and deliveries) and finally culture and management, with the industry still being hampered with a poor reputation.

If you are currently looking to fill vacancies in the hospitality sector, we have a team of specialist recruiters who can support you, get in touch today.