Hospitality defies double-dip recession

The second Hospitality Employment Index from People 1st shows that businesses are actively recruiting across all industries, with over 12,000 jobs created in London and the South East ahead of next year’s Olympics.

Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st, said: “The Hospitality Employment Index is a strong indicator of the sector's economic health and clearly shows that sector businesses are more confident and buoyant about their future.

“There are far more fantastic opportunities now than ever before for high calibre staff and it is anticipated that this will continue beyond the New Year as businesses review their staffing and recruitment needs.

London 2012​

Wilson went on to state that the figures might well continue to increase for London 2012.

"Thousands of workers will be needed in hospitality. Businesses need to be thinking now about the implications that the Games will have on their business and whether they have the right quantity and levels of staff in place."

The figures show a vigorous hospitality jobs market that has almost doubled with new job vacancies soaring from 26,550 in the second quarter of 2009 to 45,000 new roles in the same quarter of 2011.

The number of job applications has also increased, by over a third - from 640,000 to 800,000 submissions in the past year, reflecting increasing competition in the jobs market.

The Index also found that:

• The greatest number of jobs were for restaurant management positions - 7,740 vacancies – growing by nine percent since the first quarter despite the lull in activity around the Easter break and the Royal Wedding.
• Demand for head chefs soared by a staggering third (34 percent) whilst the number of posts for chefs de partie grew by a quarter (19 percent).
• London and the South East proved to be the greatest job generators over the past year creating 12,770 and 13,606 new vacancies followed by the North East where the number of job vacancies increased by a quarter to 821 new positions.

Top 10 most popular jobs in hospitality:​