Are £1k staff joining bonuses and 'counter offers to keep workers' sustainable?
A shortage in hospitality staff is forcing some bosses to pay £1,000 bonuses if their employees can help them find staff - while other bosses are increasingly making counter offers to keep staff and stop rival firms poaching them.
Last updated 8th Jul 2021
In some parts of the region one in eight businesses have vacancies.
James Tuckett, from Somerset-based One Step Recruitment which operates across the West Country, said: "I've been in recruitment seven years and I've certainly never seen the amount of roles we're getting on a regular basis - almost a daily basis.
"We're actually seeing counter offers as well, so if a candidate has been offered a permanent placement we're also seeing that their existing employer- rather than going down the whole recruitment process - they are offering a counter offer in terms of an increase in salary or other benefits.
James Tuckett, from Somerset-based One Step Recruitment speaks to reporter Andrew Kay
"We're seeing quite a few incentives from some of our local employers at the moment. Offering things like £1,000 incentives for family members to join or friends to join local businesses - just due to the struggle that employers are certainly finding at this moment in time.
"We're certainly seeing an increase in wages in order to generate the staff coming through the door.
"Whether it's sustainable, I think it will certainly be pushed to the end product.
"Clients have certainly got to consider their employers brand and also other company benefits that they can offer.
"They're going to be looking of course at salary but they're also going to be looking at the other benefits that local employers can offer them - so things like extended holidays or company benefits such as gym memberships or other bonuses that they can offer.
"There could be a range of things with regards to even people are looking at whether there is free parking on site for example."
What suggestions are there to improve the situation?
There's calls to stop people having a second job while being paid furlough to help ease the current staffing crisis in the hospitality sector - also for Australian-style 'Covid Recovery Visas'.
Around eight in 10 firms are reporting trouble hiring new workers - while a Chambers of Commerce survey of other industries found those needing drivers and skilled staff are also having trouble hiring.
Industry body UK Hospitality is also calling for temporary immigration changes to allow non-UK workers to help plug some of the current gaps - while calling for extra support for training and development of home-grown employees.
The group says it would also support an Australian style 'Covid Recovery Visa' to support sectors 'disproportionately hit by Covid'.
For more about the calls from UK Hospitality click here
Are other sectors also struggling with staffing issues?
A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce South West reveal two thirds of employers needing 'highly skilled manual and technical roles' are struggling to fill positions - and one in three are struggling with 'semi or unskilled' roles.
A report by Greatest Hits Radio on the knock-on impacts of the staffing shortage in sectors such as food manufacturing and refuse collection can be found by clicking here
Could staffing vacancies scupper 'Freedom Day' as venues struggle to open?
Greatest Hits Radio has obtained evidence of employers being effectively 'gazumped' with rival firms making higher last minute offers - even after new workers have signed contracts.
UK Hospitality estimates the sector has a nine per cent vacancy rate, or a shortage of 188,000 workers. Around eight in 10 hospitality operators are reporting vacancies - with front of house and cooking staff roles hardest to fill.
To see our special video report focussing on the challenges in the hospitality industry click here.