How travel survives the lack of people

Travel providers were hit hard just as demand for leisure began to pick up. The result: Some hotels were unable to reopen, and those that did did so with skeleton crews.

According to Focusrightthe latest travel research report Help Wanted: How Travel Survives the People Shortage, airlines had to cut routes and cancel flights at the last minute because there were not enough pilots or flight attendants. Other travel firms have had to reorganize tasks around existing staff while accelerating their recruitment efforts.

Rising demand should not normally be a problem. But an October 2021 study by American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) found that 94% of hotels are understaffed and 47% are “severely understaffed” due to the ongoing crisis.

Marriott, for example, had 10,000 vacancies to fill in September 2021 at its 600 operated hotels in the US. according to the Financial Times.

Even with gradual improvement, labor pains persist: Analysis for AHLA from Oxford Economics
found that hotels are expected to shed 166,000 workers at the end of the year, down 7% from 2019.

There is no quick fix

There are countless solutions to help airlines, hotels and other travel businesses recover staff – but they’re all expensive. The best approach to attracting new talent is money, of course—paying higher wages, whether to an hourly worker or a new manager. (The average hourly earnings for the leisure and hospitality industry is approximately $19.75).

With unemployment near an all-time low, workers feel empowered to ask for more money and benefits, and they’re getting them. This creates new problems and can demotivate existing (loyal) staff – so they need to be compensated too.

Raises, promotions, benefits (eg matching 401K, wellness) and bonuses (including referral bonuses) are very important. But they still don’t solve the problem when competing with so many other industries that historically pay more.

Travel, tourism and hospitality was one of the most attractive industries to build a career in, but that was before the pandemic. The industry is still a great place to work, but there is a PR problem.

AHLA recently launched an advertising campaign promoting these benefits, such as traveling to places of interest or receiving travel discounts. One of his captions, “Make the travel destination everyone’s workplace,” emphasizes the appeal of travel itself.

As with other industries, travel companies also encourage the ability to work from anywhere, except for employees who do not work directly (face-to-face) with customers or who operate a plane, train or tour.

After the pandemic, most workers got used to and still prefer to work remotely, even just a few days a week. Many travel companies can offer this – and many prospective employees require it.

But for companies that need people on the ground, it’s harder than ever to attract talented prospects who have more opportunities than ever to work remotely in other industries, often for more pay.

This article discusses some of the major challenges facing the airline and hotel segments in restarting and renewing their industries, while balancing the conflicting challenges stemming from high demand, skyrocketing prices and an unprecedented shortage of available workers.