Adam Hyman on recruitment in hospitality: It’s time for change

There’s a little street in London’s Soho that is lined with chic independent retailers and some of the best spots to eat in the area. Some are relatively new; some have been there for decades. It all works: a smorgasbord of old and new that manages to keep the area’s identity while moving things on.

I walk along this street most days, and last week I noticed something: almost every business – a dozen or so – had a note in the window advertising for staff.

For a long time, restaurants, pubs and cafes have attracted new staff this way. Perhaps it’s not the most professional of ways to recruit, but I guess it works? You certainly can’t knock its efficiency. But it’s the first time I’ve seen certain operators – both restaurants and retailers – resort to this. And when a whole street is doing it, smack bang in the middle of London, it’s a sign of the times (quite literally).

A petition is currently doing the rounds to allow EU nationals to come to the UK to work in hospitality for up to two years. We need to support it, even if there’s only a slight chance it will come to fruition. Either way, it again highlights the Government’s apparent ignorance when it comes to our industry. We’re the third biggest private employer in the UK, a £60bn sector, and yet we’re having to plead with ministers to help us find a big enough workforce.

We all know why we’re dealing with a staffing crisis. Can we completely blame Brexit? Probably not. There are arguments to suggest we have, for too long, relied on a more ‘affordable workforce’ from mainland Europe. Should we not have been investing in a more sustainable approach to recruiting domestically (as well as from abroad), paying our workforce a proper salary and changing the perception of working in hospitality? Most definitely.

And so whatever the outcome of the petition, it’s time for change. If we can’t fill vacancies now from our current workforce, and without a dramatic policy overhaul on immigration post-Brexit, we need to completely re-evaluate how we recruit, build our workforce and operate our businesses.

The soft-power strategy of marketing hospitality as a career to the next generation will take years. It’s starting to happen, and I do believe the perception of hospitality is changing, but it’s clear this doesn’t come about overnight. We should be focusing on how we retain the current workforce as a priority, as well doing so much more at grass root levels – going into schools, helping to reshape this fascination that university is the only pre-requisite to jobs. One of the best things about hospitality is that you can start without any qualifications and in a matter of years be running a successful restaurant, earning good money.

I speak to a lot of people regularly about dining out. We also have a busy inbox at The Good Food Guide – readers around Britain are always keen to report back on the experiences. Establishments with good service and a feeling of warmth feature in feedback even more notably of late and are where diners will return to.

We need to make hospitality a better place to work and focus on what we do best – giving people a good time. Happy staff equals happy customers.

Read more industry insights here