The latest Hospitality Employer Index report is out from leading recruitment specialists, Caterer.com and sector skills council People 1st. Now the sixth of its kind, industry employers can now begin to benchmark themselves against trends and activity relating to their sector. Quarter two for 2012 suggests that hospitality is more buoyant than many other areas in service industries who experienced a smaller decrease of 0.1 percent. The report also focuses on restaurants and they are clearly setting the pace for expansion and attracting talent.
Generation Y (18-34 year olds) are leading the way in restaurant usage and eat out twice as often as 35-54 year olds and three times as often as those aged 55 and over. Likely to be due to this group having the most disposable income with less mortgage ties or living at home and having a more carefree approach to what they spend their money on.
Restaurants have gauged this emerging audience well and are setting the pace for the industry in terms of branding and informal dining options, such as shared seating at the likes of Wagamama and quick counter service from Nandos. They have adapted quickly and other brands are engulfing the opportunity of social media, apps and mobile sites that engage with their market on the move. Restaurant brand Giraffe are known for their Twitter feed as are many smaller businesses.
The opportunity for businesses of all sizes to develop this area is huge and building a relationship with their target market and responding at a suitable pace will hold the attention of this generation and attract new talent.
Trends suggest that customers are in control of when and how they communicate with a hospitality business and this is not only for making a reservation or seeking customer care. The rise of mobile has seen 46 percent use their phones to apply for jobs and 60 percent of those with a tablet have also done so – alarmingly a third of restaurants do not even have a website.
The approach that operators take needs to change rapidly to engage those looking for a career and becoming an advocate of what your brand offers. Talent in the Generation Y bracket wants to know about the brand, whether their personality fits with their values and to find out about opportunities available.
Occupational roles within the restaurant sector equate to seventy-seven percent all roles in hospitality and over three quarters of staff are under the age of 30, meaning that our workforce can already recommend others to join the industry. Making it easy and accessible for them to do so is another challenge; however social media and success stories will help.
To review the full press release – please see attached.
You can download the report by visiting www.caterer.com/HEI
