Labor Crisis In Hospitality, Tourism & Event Industry

The Hospitality, Tourism and Event Industry is an immense sector that involves economic activities that directly or indirectly contribute to or depend upon travel, tourism and events. This sector contributes greatly to a country's gross domestic product. The Hospitality, Tourism & Event Industry globally is finding it challenging to attract and retain Millennials. A strong hospitality industry is fundamental to global economic prosperity. Demographic statistics show that because of lower birth rates, people aged 15-24 are declining in developed nations thus resulting in a shortage of available resources to fill jobs in the hospitality industry. This issue is now a crisis! Prior to COVID-19 pandemic the discussion was about Labor Shortages however, the pandemic has pushed it to a Crisis, although there is a silver lining where organizations have been forced to adopt innovative practices. The central question my book will address is what do you need to do to attract and retain Millennials who will become 75% of the workforce globally by 2025 which is just around the corner. For the past forty years, I have dedicated my working life to hospitality, tourism and event industry as an entrepreneur, academic and consultant. I am familiar with the various facets of training and managing human capital which is so critical towards the success of your organization and the industry as a whole. For those of us so closely immersed in the industry, be it restaurant manager, executive chef, hotel leaders or airline crew, we are witnessing this shortage and are faced with a new challenge of understanding the broadest demographic available to enter our workforce yet without much interest to do so: Millennials. I wanted to understand why Millennials are choosing to either leave the industry or reject entering, so I listened to them and the insights from our conversations form the core of the discussions and recommendations in this book. The findings from my conversations with Millennials led to eight key factors that affect Millennials' job satisfaction which I will cover in detail in each of the chapters in this book. They are: inconsistent application of organizational policies by supervisors, culture of favoring seniority, opportunities for advancement, baby boomer culture, communication, training & development, compensation, human connection & work-life balance. My hope is that you will benefit from paying close attention to the themes that emerged from my research for this book. Thank you for reading the book. You can find more information on my book website at www.laborcrisis.com