Restaurants boost wages amid staffing struggles

Restaurants-boost-wages-amid-staffing-struggles-Lightspeed-Global-State-of-the-Hospitality-Industry-Report.jpg

More than a third of UK hospitality employers have boosted pay and benefits in an attempt to attract and retain staff, new data from Lightspeed reveals.

According to the tech company’s 2021 Global State of the Hospitality Industry Report, 38% of UK merchants are already operating with fewer employees than needed, with 14% forced to reduce opening hours. 

Hiring and staff retention were singled out as the biggest challenges facing the UK hospitality industry, with almost half of survey respondents (48%) struggling to retain staff.

Some 34% have boosted pay and benefits in a bid to mitigate the problems.

Asked what would be the most helpful to their staff retention challenges, more government funding to raise wages and stabilise the business (47%) was one of the highest ranked, alongside technology that automates some staff functions, such as inventory and order-taking (48%); and more patience and empathy from diners (43%). 

However, when it comes to whether customers are being more understanding, the industry is split, with 48% reporting diners are more demanding while 46% feel customers are more understanding. And when it comes to the generosity of diners, 43% are tipping worse compared to 37% who say diners are tipping more.

This is supported by consumer data, which revealed just 22% said they were tipping more to support their local restaurant. 

Rising food and supply costs was the second biggest challenge reported for the UK (22%), followed by accommodating higher demand from customers (20%) and inventory and supply chain (13%).