The UK hospitality industry job board, Caterer.com, has received more than 2.1 million job applications from displaced hospitality workers across the UK since the outbreak of Covid-19, providing them with job opportunities to keep them in work throughout the pandemic. With the launch of the Government’s new three-tier system of coronavirus restrictions, Caterer.com expects this number to significantly rise in the coming weeks and months.
Since its launch at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March, the Hospitality Redeployment Hub, in partnership with UKHospitality and Hospitality Action has been helping hospitality staff who’ve been made redundant, lost their job or had their hours cut to find alternative employment within the industry and other sectors until they can return to hospitality again. So far, more than 160,000 jobs have been listed online across a range of sectors including customer service logistics and cleaning
The Hospitality Redeployment Hub has continued to be a lifeline for workers who have been furloughed or made redundant, even as restrictions eased. In September, more than 1.3 million people visited the site, up from 544,000 in May in the middle of the UK’s lockdown. While 49,000 new CVs were submitted last month and fresh applicants were up almost 17% from August.
With more than 750,000 hospitality workers expected to be made redundant or temporarily out of work due to the pandemic, Caterer.com is expecting to see a large increase in the number of workers applying for roles through its hub, especially as furlough winds down and is replaced with the less generous Job Support Scheme at the end of the month.
Neil Pattison, Director at Caterer.com, said: “Each week we’re seeing a significant increase in visitors and fresh applicants to our site. We expect these numbers to steadily climb as further lockdowns are applied in regions across the UK as part of the Government’s three-tiered system. Whilst more than 2.1 million applications have been submitted so far, as restrictions tighten and furlough comes to an end it’s likely applications could exceed 4 million by Christmas.
“While we welcome any government assistance, the increase in applications on the site shows that the Job Support Scheme and VAT reduction does not go far enough to help struggling hospitality workers and businesses, already facing tighter restrictions including the 10pm curfew which has been introduced with no scientific evidence to justify it. If the Government fails to act now to provide the support the hospitality sector deserves, not only will many businesses struggle to survive but we are also at risk of losing generations of incredible talent as employees are forced to seek work elsewhere.”
