What a difference a pandemic makes.

Back in 2018 and 2019, we were concerned with filling existing hospitality positions, not regretting how many quality individuals we had to place on furlough or reduced schedules. We now wonder whether we have jobs for them in the future and, what's scarier, whether they would even want to return to the hospitality industry.

At the time, our industry was doing phenomenally well. As reported by Travel Week, many analysts, including the Deloitte 2019 Travel and Hospitality Industry Outlook, cited “U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating that there were more than a million job openings within the leisure and hospitality sector in 2018 versus over 350,000 job openings in 2009.”

American unemployment was low, immigration was constrained and many of our service competitors were offering excellent wages. The AHLA was working on apprenticeship programs to bring new people into hospitality.

As Guy Langford, Deloitte's transportation, hospitality and services industry head, said: "Having the right culture and making sure you have a clearly stated purpose is now really important. And that purpose has to be greater than just delivering hospitality. It has to appeal to the emotions, perhaps along the lines of sustainability, community or inclusivity."

Hold those thoughts.

The pandemic hit our industry full force.

The AHLA's 2021 Policy Guide projects that travel, and by implication, occupancy and revenues, will not return to 2019 levels until at least 2023. Additionally, the AHLA reported the industry is looking to add 200,000 jobs, but it remains 500,000 below 2019 levels.

We are already seeing ample discussion of how difficult it might be to recruit and employ desired talent as the industry rebounds. Perhaps we should also consider how the pandemic may have changed our view of the ideal skill set needed as well as what it may take to make our industry attractive for those seeking a job or, hopefully, a career.

Throughout this pandemic, our teams have worked their butts off. The burnout is palpable, even at today’s lower occupancies. The time savings with fewer guests, less complex F&B offerings and accelerated technology for contactless services has been more than overbalanced by the extra COVID-19 protocols and stress of working with skeleton crews. As the occupancies rebound, property managers and supervisors need to be mindful of what they have been through and finding ways to reward and show appreciation to loyal staff.

Doubtless, technology will play an even greater role in the future, increasing productivity and helping reduce labor pressure. We have started to learn our way with guest communications, keyless entry, remote check-in, use of QR codes and integration with loyalty programs. However, self-service hospitality without staff is not an attractive or realistic path for our industry. It’s not what we do.

Rather, in such a tradition-bound industry, do we have the courage to allow our frontline workers to help define their roles and work routines? Not to diminish our service standard, but to exercise some freedom in crafting the routes to getting there. Not to reject sound principles of guest service, but to possess a willingness to try the new and fresh, which many of our guests would embrace.

It will pay to study our service and retail industry competition well. This includes everyone from more rigid major operators like a Target or Walmart, which offer strong wages and benefits, to more “sexy” entrepreneurial firms, like Starbucks, to independent, smaller chain restaurants and creative retailers that combine compelling product with creative marketing and “liberated” staff.

Nothing should be off the table. We can be more flexible with dress codes and personal adornments as well as scheduling, allowing people to share jobs or even shifts and welcome both the young and older looking for limited hours. Most importantly, we need to allow people to be themselves as they make positive connections with guests.

At the same time, as an industry, we need to study and advocate in a forceful, responsible manner in a number of areas. These include: looking at comparative wages and costs of living in different locales; finding what benefits will best attract new candidates to hospitality; working even more closely with career development programs; exploring expanded H-2B visa programs; and marketing more forcefully all the great things about hospitality.

Despite the unprecedented challenges we all faced in 2020, this is still an exciting and rewarding industry to be part of. The future is ours to create. Let’s dive in.

Kerry Ranson is chief development officer for HP Hotels.

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or its parent company, STR and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor with any questions or concern.