Hospitality staff see salaries soar this Christmas

Catering salaries are soaring this Christmas while job listings have also risen since last year amidst a widening skills gap, according to new figures.

Salaries have risen by 7.4% in the catering sector since November as companies wrap up their seasonal recruitment drives ahead of the New Year.

While job vacancies in the catering sector fell 22.6% since November as companies wind-down their seasonal recruitment drive, the number of listings has actually risen by 0.6% since 2016.

Pay across the UK saw a steady increase of 1.3% last month, when compared with data from October 2017, according to the results from CV Library.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library said that the findings provide a positive outlook for “the nation’s key cities and industries” in 2018, but warned that a drop in application rates could indicate a widening skills gap in the UK.

“With Christmas fast approaching many businesses will have been working hard to recruit for additional seasonal staff. Not only this, but in the run up to the New Year many organisations will be looking to boost their recruitment efforts ahead of the January rush.”

The data also revealed that job vacancies saw a 5.8% increase across the nation, when compared with data from the same period in 2016.

“Catering organisations typically begin recruiting for their seasonal staff in the months leading up to the festive season, so it’s not surprising that jobs have seen a dip month-on-month. That said, the increase in salaries suggest that those who are still looking to recruit staff for the Christmas period, are doing their best to attract suitable candidates.

He added that the year-on-year increase in job vacancies and a fall in applications “could indicate that the skills gap is continuing to widen.”