7 hospitality recruitment challenges in 2025 & how to solve them

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that there were 112,000 hospitality sector vacancies in the UK at the end of 2023, compared to 89,000 pre-pandemic. But what is stopping these openings from being filled?

In this article, we’ll explore the biggest recruitment challenges in the hospitality industry today, and how businesses can overcome these with enhanced recruitment and retention strategies, plus support from a hospitality applicant tracking system.

7 recruitment challenges facing the UK hospitality industry

From staff retention to skills shortages and sector perception, read more about the recruitment challenges facing the hospitality industry in 2025, and how to successfully navigate them.

1. Employee turnover

The challenge

The hospitality industry is the UK sector with the highest staff turnover rate, with this figure coming in at 52%, according to analysis of the 2022-23 Annual Population Survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). This subsequently impacts:

• Recruitment costs
• Team cohesion
• Employee morale
• Business efficiency

A high turnover rate means more time and money needs to be invested in recruitment and training, affecting operational efficiency. It can also impact team morale, which customers may pick up on. 

Students and individuals at the start of their careers often take jobs in the hospitality industry, with many drawn to short-term positions. But with a significantly higher turnover percentage than the retail sector, which attracts similar candidates, what can hospitality businesses do to improve their employee retention rate and overcome this recruitment challenge?

The solution

Hospitality businesses need to dedicate time and resources to their employee retention strategy to reduce their hiring spend, boost team morale and associated quality of service, and retain skilled staff for longer. A staff retention strategy should focus on:

• Offering an attractive employee benefits package, including competitive pay
• Creating an inclusive workplace culture, with open communication at its heart
• Provide clear, supported opportunities for professional development, with ongoing training 
• Recognising and rewarding good performance and employee achievements
• Fostering a positive work-life balance, such as by offering flexible hours and prioritising employee wellbeing measures

2. Skills shortage

The challenge

One of the biggest recruitment challenges in the hospitality industry right now is the ongoing skills shortage. Many skilled workers left the sector when businesses were forced to close during the lockdowns of 2020-21, and they haven’t returned. What’s more, the sector’s low pay and demanding nature can deter skilled workers from staying with the industry long term. This has created a skills gap in the sector, leaving over 100,000 vacancies unfilled.

The solution

One answer to the hospitality skills shortage is to focus on training and developing existing staff to enhance their skills and fill any gaps your business is experiencing. This can have a positive impact on employee retention, helping them to feel more valued by your company.

Another potential solution is to explore opportunities to partner with local schools or colleges to offer apprenticeships with your business. Young people aren’t necessarily aware of the opportunities available within hospitality, but you may be able to fill skills gaps by training apprentices to eventually take on roles, such as:

• Chef
• Concierge
• Hotel manager
• Front-of-house manager

3. External factors

The challenge

The UK has experienced some significant events in recent years that have impacted the hospitality industry, resulting in recruitment challenges. Firstly, Brexit resulted in many EU hospitality workers leaving the UK. Then, the COVID pandemic created huge instability in the industry, with many businesses simply not surviving. 

It’s clear that Britain’s business landscape has changed, but how can companies navigate this?

The solution

As Brexit and the pandemic may have seen a previously engaged workforce leave the industry for good, it’s down to businesses to find a new talent pool to fill gaps in their workforce. Here’s how hospitality businesses can do this:

• Nurture local talent pools: explore talent pools you haven’t tapped into before, such as via partnerships with local colleges or universities, to promote your business and its culture. This may even attract passive candidates to open vacancies
• Upskill current employees: fill gaps by upskilling existing staff to reduce high turnover rates
• Diversify hiring: ensure diversity and inclusion is at the centre of your organisation’s recruitment strategy to tap into demographics you may not have considered hiring previously. Semi-retired workers, people looking for a job share, and individuals seeking a career change could all bring different, valuable skills to your business

4. Perception of work

The challenge

Many people have a poor perception of hospitality work, meaning they don’t view it as an attractive industry to work and progress in, which may be behind some of the sector’s recruitment challenges. This negative perception is fuelled by:

• Low pay
• Unsociable working hours, which can include evenings, weekends, and bank holidays
• High pressure
• Physically demanding nature of work
• Customer facing positions, which can mean dealing with complaints
• Temporary or zero hours contracts

The solution

While the industry is naturally fast-paced and requires staff to work outside of the traditional 9-5, there are steps hospitality companies can take to improve the sector’s reputation, such as:

• Showcase your EVP: perception of your organisation begins at the recruitment stage. Build a branded careers site to show your employee value proposition from the moment a candidate first interacts with your business. Highlight staff success stories and the diversity of opportunities on offer within your company
• Offer competitive pay and benefits: tackle the myth that hospitality positions are low paid by offering competitive pay, plus employee benefits that staff actually want. In hospitality, this may include flexible schedules, childcare support, or a 24-hour gym membership, so employees can still exercise, regardless of the time they finish their shift
• Avoid temporary contracts: provide the job stability and pay security employees need by making sure everyone is on a permanent contract with an expected number of shifts each week
• Create a positive workplace culture: offer flexibility, recognise excellent performance, and focus on measures to support employee engagement. When staff feel valued, they’ll make this clear to others, acting as advocates for your business and hospitality work in general 

5. Seasonal fluctuations

The challenge

Seasonality plays a huge role in the UK hospitality sector. In the summer months, seaside towns require extra staff to support busy hotels and cafes, and the winter sees Christmas temps in high demand from bars and restaurants. But at other times of year, these seasonal fluctuations can impact job stability. This can be a contributing factor to the recruitment challenges facing the industry, as skilled candidates want job security, and don’t want zero hours contracts. So how can hospitality businesses manage this?

The solution

Seasonal fluctuations within hospitality are simply a fact, but this doesn’t have to mean job insecurity for employees. Here are some ways to support staff retention by ensuring people feel secure in their positions all year round:

• Use data analytics to inform workforce planning. This can help businesses to predict their staffing needs more accurately to prevent over-hiring during peak periods
• Deliver training and upskilling opportunities during quieter periods to enable staff to progress professionally ahead of the next busy season, This will help them to feel valued by your company, and provide a greater sense of job security
• Focus on promoting a positive workplace culture to retain talent, even during quieter seasons. At peak times, it can be difficult to schedule team building and employee engagement activities, so prioritise these when you can

6. Work-life balance

The challenge

Candidates often assume that it will be a challenge to achieve a healthy work-life balance in the hospitality industry, with evening and weekend shifts deterring some applicants from considering the sector in the first place. As awareness of the importance of a positive work-life balance increases, candidates may be worried about burnout, childcare, or being able to prioritise other commitments when applying for hospitality jobs. But amid the ongoing skills gap, it’s imperative for employers to ease these concerns.

The solution

Hospitality businesses can put measures in place to safeguard employees’ work-life balance, including:

• Consider offering job share positions to attract candidates looking for part-time roles
• Offer flexible scheduling, ensuring everyone takes their turn working weekends and holidays, so all staff can achieve a balance. Ensure shift patterns allow for plenty of rest days, as hospitality work can be physically demanding
• Encourage open communication and employee feedback to identify any further wellbeing measures staff would find beneficial
• Schedule regular breaks during shifts, and provide a comfortable breakout area where staff can relax and recharge
• Consider providing free or subsidised food and drink to staff during their shift. This is something many hotel and restaurant businesses do, and it means staff don’t have to spend their free time preparing food for their shift
• Include measures to promote staff wellbeing within your benefits package. This could be access to a counselling service, or mindfulness courses, for example

7. Workplace culture

The challenge

The high-pressured, fast-paced nature of the hospitality industry can impact workplace culture. The work can be demanding and stressful, with long hours and concerns surrounding stability, which can take its toll. But hospitality culture doesn’t have to be toxic; plenty of businesses provide a positive environment – they just need to shout about it louder.

The solution

Hospitality businesses can implement the following steps to foster a more supportive, inclusive workplace culture, where staff are encouraged to thrive:

• Support staff to grow: make it clear from the recruitment stage that your organisation provides ongoing training and development to help staff upskill and progress in their careers. If candidates are aware of these opportunities when first interacting with your business via job adverts or your careers site, this may change their perception of working in hospitality
• Gather employee feedback: encourage open communication by using different channels to seek feedback from staff, including employee engagement surveys and team meetings, so you can see what you’re getting right and which aspects of your culture need to be improved or overhauled. This helps staff to feel that their voices are valued, and building a collaborative culture can make your organisation a more attractive place to work
• Recognition and rewards: implement a formal recognition programme within your company, whether it involves team prizes or more tangible rewards such as bonuses, pay rises, or promotions. Creating this kind of culture can positively impact team morale, motivating staff and further supporting them to grow

Navigate hospitality recruitment challenges with Talos ATS

Using hiring software tailored to the recruitment challenges in the hospitality industry can help HR to successfully navigate the current landscape. Talos ATS is our award-winning, all-in-one applicant tracking system, with coveted ATS features to benefit hospitality hiring. This includes:

• AI writing assistant to help you create clear job ads and descriptions
• Access to multiple hospitality jobs boards to support with high-volume hiring
• In-built careers site builder to help you showcase your business’ employer brand and EVP
• Integrated commuter time checker, allowing candidates to find roles within travelling distance
• CV screening tools to streamline hiring
• Video interviewing software, making the hiring process more accessible to a wider talent pool
• Automated reference checking to save HR teams time and resource
• View real-time, AI-powered talent analytics to support workforce planning
• Employee onboarding suite to ensure new starters have the best first impression of the hospitality industry

Get your free ATS demo today to see how the platform can help you to navigate the recruitment challenges facing hospitality.