The hospitality industry hasn’t quite recovered from the pandemic like other sectors of the job market have. A new survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association finds that nearly all hotels – 87% of survey respondents – are experiencing staffing shortages.
If you would like more context on this matter, please consider Larry Yu, professor of hospitality management at the George Washington University. Professor Yu’s current research focuses on hotel market analysis, tourism product value chain analysis, tourist satisfaction and hospitality crisis management.
Yu can speak to the main issues that are driving people from the hospitality and service industry as well as the changes hotels and companies need to make to attract and retain more employees.
“Industry wide, labor cost is the biggest cost in hotel operations. The improvement in wages and benefits will take incremental steps,” Yu said in a recent interview with The Washington Times. “To attract new talent to the hospitality industry, the hospitality industry needs to amplify its efforts to improve both the image and wellbeing of its service employees and ensure they are respected by management and guests.”
If you would like to speak with Professor Yu, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].
-GW-