UKHospitality calls on government to support industry and cut employment costs

10 September 2018 by
UKHospitality calls on government to support industry and cut employment costs

UKHospitality has called on the government to support employment initiatives and reduce financial pressure on the sector in a new report gauging the state of the industry.

The industry representatives have teamed up with government officials and business leaders to make a series of recommendations to government as part of their Hospitality Workforce Commission 2030 report.

It follows a series of evidence sessions in the style of parliamentary select committee hearings, which saw 50 people from across politics and hospitality express their concerns.

The report recommends the government supporting a campaign to tackle negative perceptions about life in the industry, help to provide better quality information about opportunities in the sector and collaborate with businesses to allow for better engagement with students.

UKHospitality is also urging the Chancellor Philip Hammond to increase the threshold for employer National Insurance Contribution from £6,000 to £12,000 to help improve recruitment and slash business costs.

Chief executive Kate Nicholls said: "The UK's hospitality sector is a resilient and inventive one. It has helped provide growth, jobs and investment in every region and has been vital for the regeneration of UK high streets following turbulent economic periods. However, without government support and immediate action on escalating employment costs, hospitality businesses will struggle to continue to provide these opportunities for people throughout the economic cycle.

"The recommendations in this report map a path to a post-Brexit hospitality workforce. It is recognised that free movement in its current form will end, and it is critical that government supports the sector in promoting itself to young people and providing the framework for improved career development. The full potential of the sector will only be realised with positive action from the government to ensure this is achievable.

"The Hospitality Workforce Commission 2030 exhaustively examined the opportunities and challenges that our sector faces and actions to be taken. If acted upon, these will enable us to provide even greater investment, and provide more jobs, in communities across the UK. Implementing the recommendations will allow us to more effectively provide careers and opportunities, particularly for harder-to-place workers, and help the government hit its apprenticeship target. With political and economic instability in the aftermath of Brexit, this is too good an opportunity for the government to miss.

"I thank everyone who gave their time to contribute to this comprehensive investigation and I sincerely hope the government acts upon our recommendations."

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