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U.S. Travel Assoc. Working on Solutions for Hospitality Worker Shortage

By Submitted News on Oct. 01, 2021

The U.S. Travel Assoc. reports that employment in the leisure and hospitality sector is at 10% below pre-pandemic levels, and because of record numbers of furloughs, layoffs, reduced hours and general uncertainty over the stability of travel, perceptions around jobs in travel and tourism face greater challenges than ever before.

With those issues in mind, leaders across the industry are exploring ways to recruit a more diverse population, incentivize hiring and highlight benefits of a career in the leisure and hospitality industry to build back a more stable workforce.

In the coming weeks and months, the U.S. Travel Assoc. will launch a number of initiatives to address these issues. Here's a sample:

NEW WORKFORCE INITIATIVES

The Workforce Crisis: Looking to Data and Psychology: New data about the state of the American workforce will be presented at 11 a.m. Oct. 14. This virtual program will analyze where the leisure and hospitaity industry stands and why through a fresh lens. It also will explore how to reshape perceptions of travel-related jobs. Register and learn more here.
New Ongoing Data: In order to better track trends in hiring and employment across travel and comparative to other industries, several new workforce data sources will soon be released to the Recovery insights Dashboard including the current rate of job openings and hiring and hourly earnings by month.
Ongoing Resources and Continued Education: Regularly, U.S. Travel will provide topical webinars, industry examples, new research and resources to address evolving workforce challenges. The first communication will be available in October.
State of the American Workforce and its Impact on Travel: A whitepaper analyzing current data that provides a macro view of employment and a deeper dive into its impact on the travel workforce will be released in November. Case studies and examples from inside and outside our industry will provide unique perspectives on addressing the current hiring landscape.
Let’s Work There: A third chapter of the successful Let’s Go There and Let’s Meet There campaigns is under development. This campaign will specifically target the working population and will be aimed at reshaping perceptions around careers in the travel industry.