Wages driven up by staff shortages

According to data from jobs marketplace Indeed Flex, weekend shifts are typically paying 9% more than pre-pandemic levels.

Weekday pay rates have risen by an average of 5% across the UK, far exceeding the 1.8% rise in the minimum wage between 2019 and 2021.

Pay increases vary around the country, with Greater Manchester and Cheshire experiencing the biggest pay hikes.

Hourly rates for temporary workers in those areas have risen by 11.15% for weekday hospitality staff, and by 13.87% for weekend workers compared to May 2019.

Pay growth has been weakest in Merseyside, where hourly rates increased by just 0.84% on average, and in London, where they notched up by only 3.73%.

Massive blow

It comes as Pied à Terre announced that it had halted lunch service due to staffing issues.

Founder David Moore will also be limiting his Michelin-starred Fitzrovia restaurant’s dinner service to 45 guests to ensure the current kitchen team can cope.

Moore said: “It’s far from ideal but there’s nothing we can do about it. Our current position is that we need to protect the staff that remain and not try and flog them to death.

“It’s a massive blow financially but it’s better to keep a happy and healthy team. We won’t be profitable for the next four weeks, but we will sustain the business and our reputation.”

Current vacancy rate

Moore puts the industry’s staffing problems largely down to Brexit and the pandemic.

Recent data from UKHospitality suggests a current vacancy rate across the sector of 9%, suggesting a shortfall of 188,000 workers.

The trade body has called for the introduction of an ’Australian-style visa scheme’ to enable overseas workers who do not meet the threshold demanded by the new point-based immigration system to come to the UK