Analysis of 10 million advertised roles since the start of 2015 by the recruiter found that hospitality exceeded the national average of a 9% increase in the number of jobs advertised across all UK sectors in 2018. In fact, the data said that the hospitality sector was one of the only industries – alongside HR - which continued to see the number of advertised roles grow year-on-year.
Among this growth there were increases in advertised roles for commis chefs (40% to more than 1,000 adverts) and operations managers (3% to almost 12,000 adverts) which, despite a stagnation in salary, suggests continued investment in these roles.
Bill Dawes, area manager of Reed Hospitality & Leisure, said: “These figures show that the hospitality sector is in great health. Innovative outlets are popping up everywhere, with technology supporting both back and front-of-house tasks. Training, recruitment and retention are improving significantly, thanks in large part to new academies. The only concerns in the sector are uncertainty over Brexit, and struggling high street chains.
“Despite this, the British Hospitality Association predicts there’ll be another 500,000 hospitality jobs
created by 2022, demonstrating the growth and expansion of the sector in the coming years. And companies are employing people on permanent contracts, so there still remains an undercurrent of confidence that this consumer dependent industry is strong enough to thrive after Brexit.”
Hospitality also kept pace in terms of salary increases with other fast growing sectors. While there was a 0.5% increase in average advertised hospitality and leisure salaries, the figures reveal a significant increase in some roles - 8.5% for executive chefs and 7.8% for hotel managers.
Bill Dawes continued: “Companies have a better view of the staff they need and this has involved heavier investments in HR, retention and internal recruiters hired to attract candidates. This has coincided with greater investment in training to convince new workers that this industry is not a short term career option. Hospitality and leisure can give passionate people that have the skills to work in a consumer-facing industry a rewarding career for life.
“This is an exciting, attractive and growing sector. New food-to-go outlets are continuing to grow after rapid influx in the last few years, and luxury sports retail offerings, such as private ten-pin bowling and Bounce for ping-pong are also providing quality food and beverages. There are lots of new ideas and plenty of opportunities for new recruits.”