BLS: U.S. Hospitality Employment Gains in September

Total U.S. leisure and hospitality employment in September increased month over month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly job report, released Friday.

About 83,000 U.S. leisure and hospitality jobs in September, according to BLS, which noted that “employment in leisure and hospitality is below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 1.1 million (6.7 percent).”

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that overall “nonfarm payrolls rose 263,000 against an expectation of 250,000, bringing the unemployment rate down to 3.5 percent against a flat 3.7 percent expectation.” 

The jobs report follows several new collaborations and partnerships made in recent months to improve hotel staffing shortages.

An AHLA survey of nearly 200 hoteliers last month showed 36 percent of respondents considered themselves ‘severely’ short-staffed. The AHLA foundation has partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps to prepare hospitality students for the workforce with “real-world” experience. The collaboration offers training and apprenticeship programs through career fairs, classroom visits, networking events and professional development training. 

Smaller efforts to impact local industry challenges are popping up as well. Private hospitality company Placemakr has partnered with Marymount University in Virginia to create a mixed-use hospitality and residential property Placemakr Marymount Ballston, not only to run commercially but also to use as a training ground for hospitality students. 

How well such programs will address immediate needs in the hospitality industry remains to be seen. The AHLA survey showed that housekeeping shortages were cited as the biggest current challenge.