Many employees and job seekers are reevaluating what is most important to them when considering a job opportunity after the covid-19 pandemic has reminded us what our living expense priorities are. 

Our recent survey asked our respondents what changes the expect or don’t expect to pay and benefits offered as the hospitality industry recovers, bringing back furloughed workers and hiring new staff members.  

86.2% of our respondents are planning on staying within the hospitality industry, with hope that some things will change to help protect employees and guests, including following the safety and sanitation guidelines, providing more training for employees, and more emphasis on healthcare benefits. 

Below details how our respondents are expecting pay and benefits to change:

Quality vs quantity

50.9% of respondents are expecting employers to pay current employees the same amount as before covid-19, however there is an overall prediction that the service aspect of the industry will decline as employers take the opportunity to hire less qualified and less skilled employees at lower costs to them. 

If companies do however decide to hire less qualified candidates, the concern will then become how well the safety and sanitation guidelines are being kept up, and how safe guests and employees will be. Something hospitality companies will need to consider is how the decisions to hire new talent will affect them and the industry in the long run. If guests do not feel that staff are following the guidelines thoroughly, they will be less likely to make reservations, causing more financial loss. 

With covid-19 having caused many unplanned furloughs, layoffs, salary and hour cuts, many hospitality workers found themselves struggling with financial responsibilities. Although there are relief programs in place from the government and hospitality companies to help, the pandemic has shuttered our economy longer than expected, putting a strain on everyone.

“Hourly employees are the backbone of this country, so they need to be making a living wage.”

With many expecting pay to be the same or less, there is hope that benefits can help compensate for that in return. 

“I believe that if they intend to hire more after they have gotten all furloughed employees in it would be less money and possibly a tad bit higher amount in healthcare benefits. I believe that for many employers that will be their tag line in order to get new employees. How many new employees, still remains the question.”

Will job seekers put more importance on benefits?

50.1% of job seekers are expecting the same amount of benefits to be offered as before covid-19 hit globally, while 36.8% of job seekers are expecting more benefits to be offered. 

In the past few years, we’ve seen an importance on benefits increase to help in employee retention and attracting new talent. It’s how many companies can differentiate themselves and stand out to a job seeker, although pre-covid-19, many of those benefits were things like free coffee and snacks, or a gym membership. While those are still a great addition, many are now going to be focusing on the healthcare benefits a company is offering. 

59.2% of respondents indicated that healthcare benefits will be more important to them moving forward when they are looking for a job. 

Job seekers can explore the benefits companies are offering on our employer profiles section, as well as their company websites. 

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