Hospitality staff top list of payday loan applications during the pandemic

A customer trends report has found staff in the hospitality and leisure industry have made the most applications for short term loans this year.

The data was released to highlight the professions hardest hit financially throughout the pandemic. Hospitality, construction, and NHS staff topped the list.

It is understandable why the hospitality sector is number one, with closures, rent debt, loans, and irregular and stuttered trade all concerns since March 2020. In the first lockdown, around 600,000 jobs were lost. 

The figures, compiled by Little-Loans.com, showed the average short-term loan amount borrowed by staff in the hospitality sector was £1,532.

The analysis delves further into the geography of where the loan applications came from, with the highest coming from Greater London, the West Midlands, and Lancashire.

There have been calls for higher pay and autonomy for hospitality workers, with the pandemic acting as a catalyst to the chronic shortage of hospitality professionals. 

Initiatives such as ‘Choose Hospitality’ have been put in place to attract individuals back to the industry.

Commenting on the new data, a spokesperson for Little-Loans.com told CODE: “It’s interesting to see that the professions that have made the most applications for payday loans this year have been staff within industries that have been heavily impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns. 

“So, it is understandable that staff within these industries may need additional financial support.”