Why is it so hard to get a job in hospitality now?

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NrthnLd75@reddit

Minimum wage changes mean it's almost the same cost to hire someone experienced than train up young juniors.

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Pale_Slide_3463@reddit

Because they want one person doing a 5 person job

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AlanDove46@reddit

yes, increase minimum wage is actually an increased in minimum legal productivity.

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AlanDove46@reddit

the government made it very expensive and risky.

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I work in a small restaurant and honestly managment dorsnt give a shit about staff, place would be alwsys ubderstaffed i would be managing till , bar, taking orders, serving food and me and the chrf would take turns with kp sometimes it happens once in a while but still its a nightmare especially if the place is full.

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Positive_Passion4817@reddit

Simple. Industry is shrinking.

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jeminar@reddit

This is a question because it might be because I'm getting older.

Are young people too entitled to do shit jobs now? The shit we were grateful for once.

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Vellomanaca@reddit

No. When you were younger would you work a job not knowing if you would even be given hours that week/ the chance they may send you home early to save money.

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Indie89@reddit

One element is increases in minimum wage and NI. That will reduce supply of jobs.

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EyeAware3519@reddit

This is the answer. If you have to pay an 18 year old with no experience the same as a shift supervisor with 10 years experience then there's no point taking a chance on a kid.

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BigFloofRabbit@reddit

Understandable, but that 18-year-old doesn't get an age-related discount on their rent and bills. Jobs need to be possible to live on.

It always used to irk me working on minimum wage in my late teens/early twenties and see most of my wage disappear on rent at the end of the month while my older colleagues earned more just by default.

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mrggy@reddit

I don't think UK specific reasons are a sufficient explanation because the same is happening in other countries as well. I've heard from friends in the US that's it's become really hard to get a hospitality job over there as well and they haven't raised their minimum wage since 2009.

I think the main cause is more likely to related to the rapid rise in costs (energy, general inflation) in the last few years, which has been a global issue

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Avionykx@reddit

The problem for many businesses these days is that margins are so tight that taking someone on (which has quite a cost associated with it) is a big gamble in itself.

Even for small hospitality businesses, the cost of taking someone on board and then it not working out can hit them really hard.
Unfortunately, it seems more prevalent these days that inexperienced people's perceptions of many industries is a bit out of whack, and the lack of understanding of what's needed to do a job can be a real issue.

Taking on people with a bit of experience isn't just about training people to do a job, it's about having someone who knows what is expected in terms of work ethic and effort required, which is where there's a big difference in expectations, from my experience, over say 20 years ago.

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Somethinglikethat9@reddit

Margins are tight?so they can report more than any previous years to shareholders. Money are made to be circulated, you give them to employees and they spend money to other businesses and those employees will bring money back to your business but if money are put aside in large banks accounts then from where you expect increases year on year on your business?

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Efficient_Chance7639@reddit

It astonishes me people think hospitality is like this. Making money running a pub or restaurant was really challenging before the recent hike in energy prices. Now it’s near impossible.

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NDita@reddit

This isn't the reality for a lot of businesses. Especially in hospitality which often operate on razor thin margins and are independently owned. The amount of pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels that have closed down in the last year alone is staggering, because they just cannot afford to keep their doors open without raising prices to a level that customers would be unwilling to pay. Even large chains have had to either shut down or massively downsize (Revolution, for example).

Whilst I agree with the sentiment about money being circulated, it's just not what's happening with the hospitality industry. It's horrendous out there and I have friends who run small independent pubs that are not taking wages home to keep the doors open and the few staff they have being paid.

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

Nobody wants to have to take time out to train someone on how to pour a pint or make a latte

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RBisoldandtired@reddit

I suspect wanting 2 years experience shows that you’re not a younger worker who likes the idea of working in hospitality but when they do it, realise it’s hard work, unsociable hours and low pay and quit after a month.

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alexmate84@reddit

People like me know the economy is up the shitter so we are hanging onto jobs. End of summer you will see more jobs opening when students graduate uni. On top of that less graduate schemes were posted this year to my knowledge.

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Hertstom@reddit

I presume you don’t keep abreast of current affairs because the contraction in hospitality has been widely reported for ages

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Worldly_Wafer_6635@reddit

Former GM here, I now work in marketing for a hospitality SaaS Company.

So reason 1.

The industry is being strangled from every angle: rising utilities, rising produce, rising rent, and rising staff costs.

Mixed with a younger generation that doesn't drink, and people are being more frugal. It's just being killed off.

Reason 2
This answers the experience things, when you are short-staffed and trying to reduce cost, green people are too difficult, it's too hard to train while also trying to do the job yourself, it adds extra pressure on everyone else trying to cover the slack. It's just not worth the hassle, and someone new walking into an environment, not understanding how it all works, will probably think screw this im out. Which just makes hiring anyone inexperienced just pointless and a waste of time.

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INPUT_INPUT@reddit

Plus older people who realise £8 for a pint just isn’t worth it.

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_Yorkshire_Pirlo@reddit

Many hospitality workplaces are basically deliberately understaffed these days, I know from experience...

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EyeAware3519@reddit

This has always been the case to be fair.

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Drath101@reddit

It's alot worse now. Retail the same. Watched both go downhill over the last decade

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Worldly_Wafer_6635@reddit

I was talking to the owner of the restaurant I used to run last night.

The amount of staff they are trying to run 2 floors and a busy city centre outdoor area on is nightmare-inducing.

33% of what I used to run it on. Horrific and it was hard work back then.

I would hate to see the reviews after summer.

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_Yorkshire_Pirlo@reddit

I remember a shift where I was, on the till, behind the bar, on the coffee machine and taking table service orders alone for most of the day. Crazy what is expected of hospitality workers.

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Mondaycomestoosoon@reddit

Gypsies

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Dazzling_Evidence_19@reddit

I lied to get my first bar job. I told them I had experience and bluffed and never got found out. I had a lot of experience of going to pubs so I didn't think it could be too hard. I did tell them I'd only used an old fashioned till and needed 10mins instructions on that bit. A lot of pubs have closed in recent years so couldn't provide a reference... Just saying.

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Various-Advice-9768@reddit

How old are you op ? Reason I ask is a lot of places around me are advertising for under 18’s my 17 year old daughter has applied to quite a few over the last few weeks. Ranges from glass collecting to kitchen help. I assume it’s so they can cut down on wage bill and also get staff who are willing to work odd hours like a 3 hour shift at busy periods.

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miggleb@reddit

I can't get a job in retail with 15 years experience

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Master-Trick2850@reddit

minimum wage went up, economy in shambles globally, job cuts across all pay ranges, cost of living and energy/gas prices up

all that drives up competition for these hospitality roles for both low skilled migrants, graduates struggling to get jobs, young people and people who were laid off

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Efficient_Chance7639@reddit

It is because of the minimum wage hike + NI hike/reduced threshold. Unfortunately it means most school leavers are unemployable now. Speaking as a 56 year old who had lots of opportunities to gain experience when I was teenager, it is a really, really sad situation. The government has closed the door behind the current of young employed people and screwed over future generations of young people.

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AcademyBorg@reddit

Echoing what others have said about finances/wages.

However, it's also who you know. I would rather hire someone whose is friends with current members of staff or who I've worked with before and I know is good. Espicially for small bar/pub teams, bringing a stranger in can sometimes ruin the vibe, so I always tend to lean towards hiring friends/people I know from other bars around the city.

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