REPORT FROM THE U.S.—In February, more than 8.3 million people worked in the hotel industry in the U.S. The biggest challenges facing hoteliers were high turnover rates and recruiting.
Ten months later, 4.2 million hotel jobs have been eliminated. Staffing at a sample of 4,000 U.S. hotels has remained at approximately 46% of pre-pandemic levels, according to labor management data from Hotel Effectiveness, and that percentage is expected to drop further.
“These lost jobs do not include the impact to other industries which depend upon hoteliers for their own success,” said Taylor Beauchamp, chief product officer for Hotel Effectiveness. Adjacent industries include food and beverage suppliers, equipment makers, construction firms and investment groups—all hurt by the lag in recovery experienced in the lodging sector.
As the industry enters the winter “slow season,” it is expected that job losses will continue.
“Right now, we are seeing as many as 1,000 terminations per day across the country. This number will increase over the next few months even if you don’t include the hotels that have to close because of low occupancy,” Beauchamp said.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association is working to convey this message to Congress. “The economic impact of the hotel industry goes well beyond actual hotel revenues and payroll numbers,” said Chip Rogers, President and CEO of the AHLA. “It is not a stretch to argue that hotel recovery and total economic recovery are inseparably linked.”
The AHLA is working with House and Senate leadership to increase awareness of the widespread and ongoing impact of COVID-19 on an industry which accounts for a significant percentage of total jobs in the country.
The data and chart above represent a sample of more than 4,000 same-store hotels and excludes hotels that have been closed during the analyzed period.
Del Ross is Chief Revenue Officer for Hotel Effectiveness.
The assertions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or its parent company, STR and its affiliated companies. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor with any questions or concerns.