The Reliability Crisis in Hospitality: Addressing Client and Candidate Issues in Hospitality

This blog post may not be one of our most popular, but it’s essential to discuss and foster an industry-wide conversation about the reliability crisis in hospitality. As recruiters in the hospitality industry, we witness firsthand the shifting dynamics and growing challenges that businesses and candidates face daily. The reliability of both clients and candidates is deteriorating, driven by economic pressures, market unpredictability, and post-pandemic behavioural changes (although some shifts may also be attributed to a new generation entering the labour market with different priorities and work ethics). While we clearly see what’s going on in the industry, it often feels like these trends are beyond our control. However, this isn’t entirely true. Recruiters can and should take steps to address and mitigate these issues, fostering a more stable and reliable industry—after all, it’s in our best interest.

What's behind this?

Economic pressures are at the forefront of this issue. In many countries, rising taxes and inflation have increased the cost of living, leading people to be more cautious with their spending. Additionally, the pandemic has shifted customers’ priorities, with many placing greater value on personal well-being and financial security. This financial strain and change in priorities cause more frequent booking cancellations and changes to reservations. Flexible booking policies, designed to attract wary customers, have inadvertently encouraged unreliable behaviour, with customers now expecting to alter their plans without financial penalties. This flexibility leads to last-minute cancellations, disrupting business operations and causing financial losses to businesses.

How it Shapes the Workforce's Behavior?

Simultaneously, these economic pressures and pandemic-induced changes affect the workforce as well. The same financial strain and market unpredictability that impact customers also push hospitality workers to seek more stable and lucrative employment opportunities. The economic landscape and labour market dynamics contribute to the decline in candidate reliability. The rise of the gig economy and freelancing opportunities offers hospitality workers alternative employment options with greater flexibility and often better pay. This shift makes traditional hospitality roles less attractive, leading to higher turnover and less commitment from candidates.

Additionally, the demanding nature of hospitality jobs, exacerbated by the pandemic’s and economic stress, has led to increased burnout and job dissatisfaction. Candidates are more likely to seek alternative employment that offers better working conditions and less stress, contributing to higher turnover and less reliability. The fluidity of the labour market, with its abundant opportunities and competitive wages, has further increased job-hopping among candidates. Workers are more likely to leave positions for marginally better offers, resulting in high turnover rates and unreliable staffing. Candidates often behave unprofessionally when it comes to job searches and changing jobs, frequently not showing up for interviews, ghosting recruiters and employers, and changing jobs rapidly without notice. This unreliability undermines the recruitment process, making it challenging to maintain a stable workforce for clients and eroding trust between employers and employees.

Are the Employers Better?

The growing lack of trust is evident, with both clients and candidates exhibiting unreliable behaviours. It’s not just candidates who are increasingly unreliable; clients are also making irrational decisions, likely as a result of unstable market conditions and an unreliable workforce. When talking to numerous clients daily, we often encounter situations where clients are short of skilled workforce but don’t seem committed to resolving the issue. For example, they may offer working conditions that are not aligned with market trends, such as minimum wages, poor work-life balance, and no development opportunities within the role. Additionally, it is becoming more common for clients to ask for assistance in filling a vacancy and then disappear or withdraw offers at the last minute. This behaviour not only disrupts the recruitment process and wastes recruiters’ time but also leaves candidates and agencies in difficult situations, exacerbating the lack of trust in client relationships and further eroding trust between candidates and employers. This erosion of trust is both a consequence and a catalyst of the declining reliability crisis in hospitality, creating a vicious cycle that further destabilises the hospitality industry.

Where do Recruiters Stand?

Just to critique ourselves a little bit too—it’s not only the clients and candidates who play a crucial role in shaping the industry. Recruiters have a critical responsibility to advise clients on salaries and market trends, including what employees are looking for in their roles, and to inform candidates on market trends and changing conditions. Making proper research before taking on a position is essential to ensure that the offered compensation is competitive and attractive to potential candidates (let’s be honest, why would a recruiter work on a role that is essentially not fillable?). By providing informed guidance, recruiters can help bridge the gap between client expectations and candidate needs, contributing to more reliable and satisfactory employment relationships.

At Need a Talent, we are continuously developing methods to analyse clients and candidates alike, ensuring we work with businesses and individuals who are determined and dedicated to their profession. Our goal is to solve issues such as assisting clients to build a long-lasting teams or helping candidates advance their careers, and most importantly, encouraging open and honest communications between all parties, thereby contributing to a more reliable and robust hospitality industry. By fostering a culture of trust and commitment, we aim to mitigate the challenges posed by the current trends and support the industry’s growth and resilience.

Understanding and addressing these underlying causes will help the hospitality industry stabilise reliability, improve service quality, and create a more sustainable operational environment. Together, we can make a difference.