Jobs.ie has been delighted to partner with Fáilte Ireland to examine hiring and recruitment in the hospitality sector.
The study reveals employers are increasing pay rates, introducing more worker-friendly shift patterns as well as compensating staff for unsocial hours.
“The research shows that working conditions are improving. The industry appears to have listened to the results of the last piece of research we did on this,” said Jenny De Saulles, Fáilte Ireland’s director of industry development.
Christopher Paye, General Manager of Jobs.ie said, “The challenges in recruiting staff to the sector have been well documented. It’s positive to see hospitality employers taking positive action to make working in the industry more attractive to job seekers.”
Over the Summer, the agency asked 350 companies in the sector about the impact of the crisis and the measures undertaken to combat it, as well as surveying 3,800 workers in partnership with Jobs.ie. The results were checked against previous research that was presented to employers at the end of last winter.
Employers said it was less difficult to recruit for almost all positions, although there is still a huge shortage of chefs.
The older study found that negative perceptions around pay and conditions were the primary turn-off for potential workers in the sector. The most recent research suggests 74 per cent of employers in the sector have since hiked pay rates.
Caeman Wall, the agency’s head of economic and industry analysis, said hotels, in particular, appeared to be showing a lot of new-found flexibility in their working conditions. He said some employers were now employing more staff than before, but with each staff member working less hours. This had added “operational complexity” for some businesses, he said.
