In further positive news for the industry, the majority (77%) are not planning on making any job losses over the next 12 months.
Half of all the hospitality and leisure businesses surveyed, including hotels, restaurants, pubs and bars, state that they are interested in hiring ex-public sector workers, this is consistent with last year (2012: 51%) and compares favourably to the business landscape as a whole, where 57% of businesses across all sectors state they do not want to hire ex-public sector workers.
The vast majority of hospitality and leisure companies (87%) believe that Government efforts to remove barriers to job creation are having no impact on their business; although this is a slight improvement on last year (2012: 89%).
A further 72% believe a reduction in employer’s National Insurance contribution would have an impact on the job market, a third of whom (33%) state it would have a ‘major’ change on the market. Indeed this makes the Chancellor’s recent Budget announcement to waive the first £2000 of employers’ contributions exactly what businesses want.
Commenting on the findings, Mike Saul, head of hospitality & leisure in Corporate Banking at Barclays, said: “Despite the discretionary nature of the hospitality and leisure sector, it is one of the largest employers in the UK, and has weathered the economic storm well. It is well-placed to offer opportunities to a broad spectrum of individuals from many different employment backgrounds, and as our research shows, there is clearly room and appetite to develop these aspirations.”