This month we joined forces with Access Group and HJ UK to survey 1,300+ Hospitality employees about their salaries, benefits, working hours, highs/low and expectations for working in Hospitality. Katy Moses, MD at KAM, shares a few of the most salient points form the research below…
- This year’s results show that we are seeing a squeeze in the mid-level salaries, with an increase in the percentage of workers earning both less than £30,000 and those earning £60,000 or more. Unsurprisingly, those in the higher bracket (>£60k) are more likely to be male and over 45 with 13+ years experience working in the industry.
- 95% of those we interviewed told us that a ‘fair salary’ was important to them (the other 5% Nepo babies?!) but so many other benefits also matter to them. Holiday entitlement, training and development, flexibility with hours, location etc- these are all up in importance from last year- a Life/Work (shall we stop putting ‘work’ first in this phrase?!) balance has become even more coveted post-pandemic. Employers must consider the whole package and understand that increasingly employees are looking for more than just a good salary in order to provide them with job satisfaction.
- Positively, 90% of those questioned believe that hospitality is a diverse industry- up from 86% in 2023- creating a diverse and inclusive workspace that allows employees to feel safe, whilst giving them the freedom to develop is a crucial factor in making hospitality both a fun and vibrant working environment, but also a career that provides the opportunities that employees are looking for. Diversity is good for business, full stop.
- What keeps hospitality employees happy? The top 3 factors that are most likely to keep hospitality employees in their role are ‘working with great people’, ‘career growth’, and ‘supportive management’, and each of these top 3 have seen a slight year-on-year decline in importance since 2023. Where we have seen an increase in 2024, is employees citing ‘exciting work challenges’ and ‘learning and development’ as factors which are most likely to keep them working within the hospitality industry going forward.
- And let’s end on a high, after all, it is Friday- 82% of employees would recommend a career in hospitality, compared to 74% in 2023. When we look at this figure, alongside the fact that we’ve also seen an increase in employee happiness, it shows that overall employee satisfaction is up compared to last year, and this is a positive set of results for the hospitality industry as a whole.
Personally I can’t recommend a career in hospitality…enough. I love my job, hospitality is a place where entrepreneurs can thrive, where one can work with sparky, fun, smart people and see instant results of the hard work we each put in every day.
You can access ‘The UK’s Largest Hospitality Salary Survey’ (and more of our hospitality research in general) via our Knowledge Hub (lots of free insight!)
