“I was shocked to see renowned chef Tom Aitkens’ article in ‘The Caterer’ magazine recently where he quoted that 97% of school leavers wouldn’t consider a career in hospitality.
Historically it was a much harder industry to work in, especially in a 9-5 society. As we move forward and times modernise, our day to day lives are moving slowly to a 24/7 society, where working outside of the classic office hours is having less of an impact on being able to enjoy life.
Almost to the contrary, going outside peak times can be beneficial in a lot of ways. You don’t need to worry about queueing, service can be better as its more focused on fewer people, there can be better offers on etc.
More than this, venues are changing their habits. It was only a few at first, but more and more restaurants are starting to adopt a 4-day week to both help staff retention, minimise staffing levels required, and increase capacity on those fewer days.
This certainly isn’t the way forward for all venues, and in particular places like hotels can’t move to this model, but there is an ability to help the market ease off some of the pressure, especially when the total staff pool seems to be dwindling more and more each day.
So, for me now, I want a call to action for our industry ambassadors.
I’m not just talking about the one or two who are putting themselves forward, but to every single worker who loves what they do. We are never going to get past 3% interest if we don’t sing about what works for this trade. Last week I talked passionately about my career, and we need others to do so too.
If you are reading this as an employee in hospitality, go on your social media and let people know why you have spent your career in the trade. If you don’t work in the trade but want to know what it offers and why people are so passionate about it, ask!
Come and talk to people, or even myself, and understand what we can offer. We have better progression opportunities than most trades out there and I am keen to spread this word.”
Simon Soar, CEO, Jersey Hospitality Association
