Hotels report staffing shortages but some improvements since May

Nearly all hotels are experiencing staffing shortages, according to a new member survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Eighty-seven percent of survey respondents indicated they are experiencing a staffing shortage, 36 percent severely so. The most critical staffing need is housekeeping, with 43 percent ranking it as their biggest challenge.

Those numbers are slightly better than in May, when 97 percent of respondents to an AHLA member survey said they were short staffed, 49 percent severely so, with 58 percent ranking housekeeping as their biggest challenge.

Hotels are offering potential hires a host of incentives to fill vacancies, according to the report:

• 81 percent have increased wages
• 64 percent are offering greater flexibility with hours
• 35 percent have expanded benefits
• 91 percent say they are still unable to fill open positions.
• Respondents are trying to fill an average of 10.3 positions per property, down from 12 vacancies in May.

The survey was of nearly 200 hotels and was conducted between Sept. 12-19, 2022.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of August, hotel employment was down by nearly 400,000 jobs compared to February 2020. Hotels are looking to fill many of the jobs lost during the pandemic, including more than 115,000 hotel jobs currently open across the nation.

National average hotel wages for 2022 through June are more than $22 per hour – higher than any other year on record. Since the pandemic, average hotel wages have increased faster than average wages throughout the general economy.

“Today’s tight labor market is creating unprecedented career opportunities for current and prospective hotel employees, and AHLA and the AHLA Foundation are working tirelessly to spread the word,” said AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers, in a news release.

To help hotels fill open jobs and raise awareness of the hotel industry’s 200+ career pathways, the AHLA Foundation’s “A Place to Stay” multi-channel advertising campaign is now active in 14 cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego and Tampa.

For more information on the campaign, visit thehotelindustry.com.