New data from online talent sourcing specialist, Talent.com, shows that recruiters in the hospitality sector are having to invest more and refocus budgets to find the best talent amidst a skills crisis.
The company found that the hospitality arena has seen one of the greatest spikes in the investment being channelled into finding the right candidates, seeing a significant spike from March to September 2021, up a staggering 1,060%. This is indicative of the struggles facing the recruitment sector in a post-Brexit and Covid-hit environment, with staff switching industries during the uncertainty of the last year and non-UK talent returning home, following the UK’s exit from the EU.
This data is in line with a report from UKHospitality, who found that 51% of business leaders felt that staff shortages have been more challenging than expected.
As Noura Dadzie – VP Sales UK & International Markets at Talent.com – explains, while investment is needed to find and encourage individuals to join the hospitality sector, where these budgets are channelled will be a key driver of success:
“At a time when skills shortages have reached a critical point across the UK, many hiring managers in the hospitality sector are pumping investment into recruitment activity in the hope that this will be enough to give them an edge over the competition. However, as the war for talent intensifies, recruitment budgets must be strategically directed if businesses are to benefit from any tangible return on this investment. When talent is so thin on the ground, only the most tactical approaches will assist in attracting the top candidates.”
“We are increasingly having conversations with hospitality hirers who are moving funds into sophisticated tech tools to help them look outside of the usual channels to find talent, which is perhaps the reason why financial spend has increased. The rise of job aggregators and programmatic platforms, for example, is one area that more businesses are budgeting additional finances for to streamline their hiring. For those that are facing an increase in recruitment budgets, looking at where else this investment can be channelled strategically rather than throwing more money at the same problem should certainly be a priority.”
