Job concerns mounting among hospitality's frontline workers

Three-quarters of people working in hospitality are concerned about their job security, with 72% either very concerned (39%) or slightly concerned (33%).

A snap survey of hospitality professionals by CGA and CPL Learning found that anxiety has been heightened by the enforced four-week closure of hospitality venues in England from Thursday (5 November), which follows a ‘firebreak' lockdown in Wales and a swathe of closures in Scotland.

Two in five (42%) people in the industry are also very concerned about long-term job security – double the figure (22%) in CGA's Hospitality Professionals survey towards the end of the first national lockdown in June.

With no end to trading restrictions in sight, staff are also downbeat about general prospects for the industry. Less than a fifth (18%) of the panel were optimistic about the prospects of the sector over the next six months – down 25 percentage points from June. Only half (49%) say they are confident that their employer will survive the Covid-19 pandemic – again, substantially down from June's figure (71%).

Chloe Sheerin, consumer research executive at CGA, said: "This survey illustrates how lockdowns and a steady stream of new trading restrictions have created widespread anxiety for hospitality professionals. Frontline teams have worked very hard to bolster consumers' confidence and support the sector's recovery over the last few months, but November will now be a stressful month for many of them.

"By and large employers responded well to the challenge of keeping staff supported and valued earlier this year – but amid so much concern about jobs, they will need to double down on those efforts in November. If they can do so, frontline teams will be well motivated to help their businesses bounce back once this latest lockdown is over."

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