Almost 130,000 travel and tourism jobs in the UK remain unfilled with many establishments struggling to find staff following the Covid pandemic. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned the sector’s recovery is at serious risk with one in 14 openings expected to remain vacant.
Restaurants and hotels are struggling to find staff but the UK government, unlike countries such as Portugal, is refusing to allow temporary workers in from overseas. The UK’s hotel, entertainment, and aviation industries are forecast to be the worst affected, facing unfulfilled vacancies of 18 per cent (one in six), 12 per cent (one in eight), and 11 per cent (one in nine), respectively.
Critical staff shortages are now acute within transportation - particularly across the aviation industry - which is struggling to cope with the post-pandemic travel demand. Before the pandemic in 2019, 1.8 million people were employed in travel and tourism in the UK, but by 2020 more than 200,000 had lost their jobs.
