Surge in chefs’ wages
Head chefs were among those who saw the biggest increases with an average pay growth of more than 10% in the past year according to the job search website.
For example, the average hourly wage for a chef had risen by 7% this year to £9.58 an hour with a head chef earning around £34,000 annually, an increase of around 15%.
Recovery and recruitment
As a whole, the hospitality sector saw a 7.7% average increase in wages between March 2021 and March 2022, likely in part due to the National Minimum Wage having increased by 6.6% in April 2022 and 2.2% in 2021, according to the data from Indeed Hiring Lab.
Furthermore, the rate of pub workers has risen by 4.9% over the past 12 months, according to new research from global software provider for the hospitality and leisure sectors, Fourth.
Ongoing recruitment and retention issues still pose concerns for the sector, on top of price increases across the board, with staffing issues predicted to set back the sector’s recovery from the pandemic, according to new research from CGA and Fourth’s Businesses Leaders’ Survey.
The survey showed high competition for employees with three fifths (59%) of those surveyed having said they would recruit at a greater rate than usual this year – an increase of 13 percentage points since the previous survey in December.
Fierce headwinds
Additionally, half (52%) of those surveyed by CGA and Fourth said they were confident about their recruitment and retention in the next 12 months with more than three quarters (77%) having offered better pay, increasing their levels by an average 11%, in a bid to attract more talent.
However, last month a survey by employee experience platform Harri and CGA revealed 45% of hospitality employees find the sector less appealing compared to pre pandemic,
CGA director, hospitality operators and food EMEA Karl Chessell said: “It’s abundantly clear that as hospitality builds back and battles some fierce headwinds, businesses that can deliver good experiences for their employees will have a huge advantage.”
