Hospitality industry in Britain carrying 36,000 vacancies as sector battles to get back on its feet

The pandemic left the pub, restaurant and hotel industry on its knees after months of enforced closures, with many employed in hospitality having been let go or having left to pursue work elsewhere.

Data from digital coaching firm Ezra showed the restaurant sector currently employs just under half a million people spread across 42,000 businesses.

Today, the sector is advertising more than 36,000 job vacancies which, once filled, will increase the overall workforce by 7.4 per cent.

This comes after UK retail sales dipped this month for the first time since unlocking, as consumers returned to hospitality venues.

The management consultancy industry also has plans for rapid growth, with close to 31,000 vacancies. With half a million people currently employed across more than 173,000 businesses, filling these roles would increase its workforce by 6.9 per cent.

The construction industry, perhaps bolstered by an urgent need for new homes across the UK, is also planning to increase its workforce by 6.9 per cent, adding more than 39,000 employees to the current workforce of 573,000.

Meanwhile, education providers, another sector to have had a very difficult couple of years learning how to adapt to long-distance teaching, is moving forward and plans to expand the workforce.

Universities are looking to add 9,141 new employees to increase the total workforce by 2.1 per cent, and secondary education hopes to increase staffing by two per cent by advertising 13,912 jobs.

The rest of the UK’s ten largest industries are all planning to increase workforces over the coming weeks and months with the charity sector looking to grow by 1.8 per cent, hospitals by one per cent, temp agencies by 0.9 per cent, supermarkets by 0.6 per cent and direct sales and marketing by 0.2 per cent.

Founder of Ezra, Nick Goldberg, said: “After a turbulent 18 months, UK industry is once again feeling optimistic as proven by the huge amount of jobs currently being advertised.

”It is, however, important to recognise that Brexit has reduced the workforce of many UK industries, not least healthcare, hospitality, and technology, so many of the jobs now being advertised will be done so in the hope of replacing staff who have been lost to other European nations, rather than scaling up.

“But even with this in mind, we’re entering a great time for job seekers with lots of new opportunities now being presented. But given how many people lost jobs during the pandemic, there is also going to be a lot of competition out there.

“Good careers coaching can teach you how to stand out above the crowd and then flourish at interview and beyond, mostly by giving you confidence in your own abilities, and the skill to communicate that competence in a way that attracts potential employers.”

The pandemic has hit UK industry hard, but while many sectors have seen a radical decline in profitability and growth, there are some that have managed to remain strong throughout the global crisis.

At the top of Ezra’s list of the ten most profitable pandemic-beating industries is the banking sector, having already generated £10.9bn profit in 2021. In second place is the legal activities industry which has generated £7.7bn profit in 2021 so far.

Thanks largely to an increased reliance on remote working, computer consultancy has also remained strong in the face of the pandemic, generating £6.5bn profit so far this year while the two industries of construction contractors and security and commodity contracts brokerage round off the top five most-profitable UK industries having both generated 2021 profits of £5.8bn.