As we close out the first quarter of the 21st century, the hospitality industry is still struggling with the turbulent challenges created by the COVID pandemic. These challenges have spawned opportunities, though, and the hotels that can take advantage of the opportunities can gain a powerful competitive advantage in this industry.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the hotel staffing trends we expect to see in 2025, a mix of struggles and accommodations that trace their origins back to the pandemic, and new opportunities that will make things a lot easier for hotel staffing in years to come. Here’s what we expect to see.
The massive talent drains from the pandemic and the great resignation hit the food and beverage industry harder than any, with significant effects on the hotel industry as well. Among the biggest loss of talent was cooks. The combination of some fleeing the high-stress environment and some striking out to establish their own restaurants took many of the best cooks out of restaurant and hotel kitchens.
A good cook is a rare thing. It takes a combination of talent honed by years of experience to reliably produce quality food, so it’s not a surprise that this is an area where staffing still struggles. Expect to have to fight hard to win the allegiance of top cooks and chefs in 2025.
The new hires from 2020 will be celebrating their fifth work anniversaries this year. Though they may have been in rough shape when you first brought them on, they’ve added considerable skills, gained confidence, and – thanks to high turnover – probably advanced higher in your organization than you did by this point in your career.
Now they might be thinking about moving on, taking their skills and experience with them. Your challenge is to find ways to engage them in their work so that they will decide to stay on. Of course, raises are the traditional incentive to stay, but you may have to get creative in offering other benefits. This includes what are traditionally thought of as benefits as well as things like improving the work environment, offering more flexible scheduling, and giving meaningful recognition to quality employees.
It becomes everyone’s job to do what it takes to keep the hotel running, and valued employees are those who are always prepared to roll up their sleeves and get it done.
Sometimes cross training can have engagement benefits, too. Employees can be excited about learning new things and facing new challenges.
If you are looking for the best candidates for your hotel, you will find them online. And just as you are looking for the best candidates, each potential hire is looking for the best hiring experience. It’s up to you to improve your recruitment tools for a smooth online hiring process.
Don’t neglect outreach via social media and virtual career fairs. Because many people find the platform they like and stay there, your recruitment efforts must be platform-agnostic. Reach out via every social media app you can manage.
While it will take humans to staff your hotel for the foreseeable future, that doesn’t mean you can’t leverage technology to improve your staffing situation. Explore these tools to help you get control over your hotel staffing in 2025:
You can also explore automation options for many repetitive tasks. This not only saves labor, but it also improves staff engagement.
When you are having trouble meeting the staffing needs at your hotel, Xclusive Services can help. We offer short-term staffing any time you just can’t meet your staffing needs. In addition, we offer long-term staffing solutions. You can contract us to staff your hotel, and we will make sure it is always adequate, no matter the situation. We can provide a full range of employees, including line level staff (both hourly/entry and skilled staff) as well as managers.
When you work with Xclusive Services, you’ll benefit from our Xclusive Excellence™ Commitment, our promise that all the staff we provide will be highly qualified and ready to work as soon as they arrive on-site. We select our staff carefully and only work with seasoned hospitality professionals who are engaged and committed to delivering exceptional customer service.
You’ll also be able to count on:
In short, you can enjoy total peace of mind when you work with Xclusive Services. To learn how we can help your hotel make the most of every opportunity in 2025, please request a quote or call a local office for immediate staffing help.
