Hospitality job market grinds to a standstill in July

Demand for hospitality staff slowed to an almost complete standstill in July, part of a wider trend that saw job vacancies increasing at the slowest pace for eight months, research has revealed.

The Report on Jobs survey, by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and professional services firm KPMG, found that demand for permanent hospitality staff was the lowest of all sectors analysed, at 51 - on a scale where anything above 50 represents an increase.

Demand for temporary hospitality staff was also slow - at 51.3 - with only nursing/medical and care staff seeing fewer temp job vacancies.

The report also revealed that chefs were one of the professions in which there was a lack of temporary job seekers with the key skills needed.

Overall demand for staff was at 57.8 last month, down from 59.4 in June. This was the least marked growth since November 2009, the research showed.

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, said: "The UK job market continued to slow down in July with overall demand for staff rising at the slowest pace in eight months."

Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, added: "With 600,000 job cuts forecast in the public sector over the next year, the Government must do everything possible to boost job creation in the private sector - in particular by reducing business taxation and regulation."

Hospitality recruitment rises at slower rate than other sectors >>

July sees sharp drop in permanent hospitality staff >>

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By Daniel Thomas

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