Hospitality

environmental
scan
Overview of the Hospitality Industry
April 2007
Labour Market Trends
The DEWR Australian Jobs 2005, showed
employment growth of 13.9% or 60,900 new jobs
created in Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants
in the 5 years to February 2005, with the industry
employing 498,900 people in February 2005. This
puts it in the top 5 growth industries. The report
predicts a projected annual job growth rate of
2.2% pa or 11,700 pa until 2009-10. The same
report indicated job prospects for chefs and cooks
as being very good and good respectively, with
strong future job growth.
There is a high proportion of part-time
employment in the industry with almost half of the
jobs being part-time; in addition there is a growing
trend of casualisation of the work force. 40% of
accommodation in the Accommodation, Cafes and
Restaurants Industry is in regional areas of Australia.
The DEWR Skills in Demand Lists States and
Territories – 2006 shows a statewide shortage
or cooks and chefs in all States and Territories.
Skills Shortages
There are enormous skills shortages in the industry,
which were identifi ed through the National
Industry Skills Initiative and published in “A Recipe
for Change” which indicated that 90% of employers
believe there is a persisting shortage of chefs,
qualifi ed cooks, bakers and pastry cooks. The
same report estimates a shortfall in the number
of cooks and chefs in Australia of around 2000
individuals. Although this report was published in
2001 anecdotal feedback gathered by Restaurant
& Catering Australia indicates that the situation
has not improved, and has indeed deteriorated.
Overview of the Hospitality Industry
The hospitality industry is large and diverse and is normally referred to as the Tourism and Hospitality
Industry. The industry covers sectors such as:
° Restaurants and Cafes
° Hotels
° Clubs
° Meetings and Events
° Tours Operators
° Tours Guides
The hospitality industry is primarily made up of small businesses with 85% of all businesses in the sector
employing fewer than 20 persons. The industry has metropolitan focus, however, this is changing with the
increasing importance of emerging sectors such as food and wine tourism.
The tourism and hospitality industry is an extremely important part of the economy with it accounting for
3.7% of GDP in the 2004/05. With an anticipated annual growth rate to 2015 of 4.3% of inbound tourism and
0.5% increase in domestic tourism the importance of the industry is only set to increase.
Overview of the
Additional research undertaken by Restaurant &
Catering Australia suggests that the shortages
of 2,000 chefs and cooks is likely to be matched
by 2,000 services staff , 2,500 kitchen hands and
1,500 supervisors. “the waiting is over” (a report
commissioned under the National Skills Shortage
Strategy) further supports this claim, where survey
respondents indicated the positions they have
most diffi culty fi lling were those of chefs and
cooks, followed by food and beverage attendants.
Skill Needs in the Industry
The skill needs of the industry are far wider than
the technical skills easily identifi ed. They include
employability skills, such as problem solving,
communication and teamwork. These skills are
critical to the success of small business in such a
rapidly growing industry. New entrants to the
industry need a basic set of threshold technical
skills which will enable them to deliver the level of
service required, however, when asked to rate on
a scale what the most important characteristic are
when recruiting new employees, employers will
inevitably rate attitude and personal presentation
above qualifi cations and experience. The ability of
employees to multi skill is also important from a
small business perspective. In addition, employers
are looking for fl exible sets of skills that can be
tailored to meet the needs of individual businesses.
Challenges faced in engaging young
people
The hospitality industry has a number of barriers
to overcome in engaging young people in the
industry. They include, but are not limited to:
° Young people still have a perception of the
industry as being a job they do while waiting to
get a “real job”;
° Lack of knowledge of career paths and job
outcomes possible in the industry;
° Diffi culty in encouraging those people who
have the correct attributes and attitude to succeed
in the hospitality industry into joining it;
° Lack of promotion of the portability of the skills
learnt in the hospitality industry; and
° Overcoming the perception of unfriendly work
hours for young people, including shift work,
weekends and highly seasonal work in some cases.
Useful websites:
www.chef.org.au
www.careersgateway.serviceskills.com.au
www.restaurantcater.asn.au
www.aha.org.au
For more information please contact:
Karen Jack
National Industry Career Specialist - Services
Industry
Restaurant & Catering Australia
Suite 17, 401 Pacific Hwy
ARTARMON NSW 2064
Phone: 02 9966 0055
Fax: 02 9966 9915
karenj@restaurantcater.asn.au
www.servicesindustryaustralia.com
Australian Jobs 2005 – Department of
Employment and Workplace Relations
Australia’s tourism facts and fi gures at
a glance, October 2006 – Department
of Industry Tourism and Resources
The Business of Eating of Out– An
industry Action Agenda for the
Restaurant & Catering Industry
“A Recipe for Change” – A Department
of Education Science and Training
National Industry Skills Initiative report
“the waiting is over” – A Department of
Education Science and Training National
Skills Shortage Strategy report
The following sources where used
to compile this information: