According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, since 2003, the underemployment rate has been higher than the unemployment rate, and is currently at an all time high.
This means people are either not receiving the amount of work they’d like to, or they’re doing jobs they’re overqualified for, and apparently the problem is getting worse. While it’s great that people are finding employment, unsatisfying work will lead to unhappy employees.
Meanwhile, the hospitality industry is staring down the barrel at a very small pool of skilled workers and facing an entirely opposite problem – overemployment. The skills shortage means that the people we have are forced to work more hours than they want or feel they can. Not only will this lead to us losing the workers we have as they burn out, it will mean less people want to work in the industry, because they believe this is what it’s going to be like.
This situation seems so strange to me. The solution is clear: underemployed workers from other industries could move into hospitality. That way, we could lessen the pressure on people already working in hospitality and hang on to them for longer, and give more hours to people who want it. Not to mention that hospitality can provide satisfying work.
So the problem we need to look at is how to get in front of people who haven’t considered a move into hospitality in the past, and how to convince them that hospitality has so much to offer as a lifelong career.
What we need is to get creative in order to find solutions to our staff shortage problem. This is a call to arms for everyone in hospitality – let’s act now and ensure the future of hospitality! It will not only help us, but the underemployed of Australia as well.