Hospitality's Talent Crisis Is a Perception Crisis. The Industry Is the Only One That Can Fix It

We as an industry need to focus on careers and not only jobs. What we have found is that a solid education in hospitality including an internship can prepare people for any service sector career opportunity, hospitality and tourism, retail, healthcare etc.

What the new generation of hospitality and tourism leaders want is opportunity. Through opportunity, innovation and leadership they will carve their own paths. The opportunities need to be there, within the traditional hospitality sectors, lodging, food and beverage etc. careers and need to be competitive with both mobility in and between sectors and compensation incentives.

When the pandemic hit, many of our people left hospitality for other opportunities in other sectors as hospitality. Many of us have washed a lot dishes, cleaned hotel rooms etc. that is the past, let's focus on the future of our industry.

Hospitality graduates have a unique combination of solid academics and industry experience through internships and field experiences often unique in higher education. The industry needs to enhance its recruitment, selection and retention efforts and develop sustainable work force career pathways, that are good for service, good for business, good for communities, good for people and good for our global community.

Hospitality’s talent crisis is not about supply; it is about signalling. For too long, the sector, still dominated by fragmented, family-run SMEs, has relied on informal narratives and outdated assumptions about “passion” and “hard work,” rather than articulating a compelling, modern value proposition. This disconnect is particularly acute with Gen Z and the emerging Gen Alpha, who expect structured development, purpose, flexibility, and visible career pathways.

Hospitality education and vocational training must become the frontline of this repositioning. Curricula need to move beyond operational competence to emphasise leadership acceleration, digital fluency, and portfolio careers. Apprenticeships and dual systems should be reframed not as second choices, but as fast-track routes to responsibility and entrepreneurship. Crucially, educators and employers must co-create clearer progression ladders that make early leadership and global mobility tangible, not rhetorical.

However, education alone cannot shift perception. Employers, especially SMEs, must professionalise talent management, invest in employer branding, and collaborate at industry level rather than competing in isolation. The sectors that solved similar crises did so collectively.

If hospitality wants to attract the next generation, it must stop underselling itself. The industry already offers what young people seek; it now needs the coordination, confidence, and credibility to prove it.

The perception issue is compelling. Perception matters, especially among Gen Z, but it is often shaped by lived experiences, labor market signals, and what students observe through internships, part-time jobs, and social narratives.

Based on my experience working with students, many are not aware of the variety of career opportunities in hospitality. Meanwhile, they are uncertain about long-term stability, work-life balance, and career progression. While the industry can be appealing to younger generations, as it offers early leadership opportunities, global mobility, and meaningful human interaction, these advantages are not always consistently delivered or clearly communicated. Instead, long working hours and irregular schedules are often emphasized to manage expectations.

This suggests that the issue is both a perception gap and a signaling gap. The industry has not only under-communicated its strengths but has also sent mixed signals through working conditions, compensation structures, and career pathways. Repositioning hospitality as an aspirational career, therefore, requires more than storytelling; it requires alignment between promise and practice. Industry leaders, educators, and employers must work collaboratively to ensure the narrative is both compelling and credible. The real challenge is to tell a cohesive story that students can relate to, believe, and experience.

Business leaders focus on shareholder, customer, and employee value, though employee value often receives less attention. Yet strengthening employee value improves customer satisfaction and shareholder value. Marriott’s philosophy, “Take care of associates, and they will take care of customers,” remains relevant, though companies tend to focus on their own talent needs rather than a collective approach.

Although hospitality is a very exciting industry, talent retention remains difficult. Could hospitality leaders collaborate to make the industry more attractive to employees? Companies already align on customer experience—why not also on employee experience? A collaborative approach could involve hotel companies, educational institutions, and industry trade organizations working together to position hospitality as an appealing career choice. This would require addressing current compensation, working hours, flexibility, engagement, and developing Hybrid roles—combining multiple skill sets—to increase motivation and flexibility. For example, a restaurant server could have culinary skills, or a front desk agent could assist in housekeeping supervision. These Hybrid roles support better scheduling, increased flexibility, and help manage absences. Similar Hybrid roles could be designed throughout the industry. Such collaboration would create a more adaptable workforce suited to the evolving hospitality industry and align it with dynamic industries that attract younger generations.

Living at the intersection of technology and people has demonstrated to me that the job roles we offer in our industry are structurally tied to functionality. As a result, our job roles are bracketed in the same way. My observation is that this has and continues to be a limiting factor. Because it does not match the way young and older people see the world today.

Beyond the macro, our industry needs creativity and alignment with a new world. It’s something I’ve been focused on from an organizational capability perspective for some time. Underlying tool structure is the opportunity to break the shackles on job roles and job design. Let’s face it. We are essentially offering the same roles I filled 35+ years ago.

For so many business reasons, this needs to change. Customer Service, Staff Satisfaction. Revenue Growth, Career Engagement to name a few.

The capability exists to change the game, and those that dare to look through a different lens will get the cream of the hospitality talent crop.

It’s all possible with a bit of derring do!