Recruitment drive launched for hospitality sector

A recruitment drive has been launched to fill 30,000 vacancies in the hospitality sector in Scotland.

The organisation Hospitality Rising said a new advertising campaign aimed to "inspire the next generation of talent" to enter the industry.

The initiative, which is called Rise Fast, Work Young, is designed to highlight how quickly workers can climb the employment ladder.

Organisers said 300 UK hospitality businesses were backing the campaign.

Mark McCulloch, from Hospitality Rising, told BBC Scotland: "It's going to take a long time for perceptions to change.

"We need to work hard in this country for hospitality to be as respected a job, career, life choice, as it is in the USA, Italy, France, Greece and Spain.

"What we are saying is: if you work in retail, on building sites, in offices at a lower level, or the gig economy, come and be with us and actually start a career."

Mr McCulloch, a former marketing executive with Pret a Manger and Yo! Sushi, formed Hospitality Rising last year to tackle recruitment challenges caused in part by Brexit and the pandemic.

The organisation says there are currently as many as 400,000 job vacancies in the sector across the UK.

It is backed by Michelin-starred chefs Tom Kerridge, Angela Hartnett and Raymond Blanc.

Natalie MacKinnon, 24, who became a general manager with bar and restaurant group Buzzworks after joining the company when she was 17, said: "I think if you are willing to put in the work, you can progress very quickly in the company, or in any hospitality business.

"I love the social aspect of the job. Every day is a new exciting challenge.

"I have met people through the company who have become friends for life. I think everyone should try a job in hospitality at least once."

Unite Hospitality gave a cautious welcome to the new initiative.

Industrial organiser Bryan Simpson said: "We welcome any campaign which seeks to improve the dire recruitment crisis in hospitality.

"However, as the biggest union in the sector, what we know is that the most effective antidote to that crisis is for employers to offer better pay and conditions for the workers who drive the sector.

"Hospitality remains the lowest paid and most contractually insecure sector in the Scottish (and British) economy."