Casual workers are central to the economic recovery of Australian hotels following the pandemic. Mr Bruce Mackenzie, Founder & Managing Director at Humanforce writes as the economy reopens and hotel occupancy levels rise again, hotels and hospitality businesses are faced with new challenges around finding casual staff to work shifts and meet customer demand.
Casual workers are central to the economic recovery of Australian hotels following the pandemic. They are often at the frontline of customer service, manning check-in desks and answering queries that can shape the guest experience and turn a visitor into a long-term loyal customer. However, as the economy reopens and hotel occupancy levels rise again, hotels and hospitality businesses are faced with new challenges around finding casual staff to work shifts and meet customer demand.
The casual worker talent crunch
As COVID-19 disrupted business operations in Australia, many employers turned to casual workers to flexibly meet their needs, including businesses that previously only relied on fulltime workers. Casual work enabled employers to reduce wage-bills and scale their workforce in line with demand, which became an attractive employment model in a disrupted market.
Today businesses are struggling to fill casual roles as a result of international travel restrictions and a lack of available staff. According to Seek there are currently 20,000 casual jobs on its site, 55% more than in 2020 and 22% more than in 2019.
Additionally, almost 70% of casual workers reported that in 2021 their work shifts have returned to or exceeded pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating an increasing demand for the casual workforce amid Australia’s COVID-19 recovery. However, this rising demand comes at a time when employers are competing to hire from a smaller pool of casual workers due to the workforce pressures brought on by the pandemic.
It is forecast that this recruitment crisis is not going to be short-term and could continue for a number of years. So, what does this mean for hoteliers, who are competing for a limited pool of casual talent and struggling to fill shifts just as business demand returns?
How LUXXE is being impacted
One business that is being directly impacted by border closures is LUXXE Outsourced Hotel Services, a Humanforce customer and Australian boutique services company that offers outsource services to hotels across various departments including housekeeping, rooms and food & beverage.
Currently, LUXXE’s workforce is made up of 30% casual employees. However, they have been struggling to hire enough casual workers due to decreased numbers of international students and working holiday makers, as well as workers finding alternative employment opportunities due to the instability of work in hotels and fluctuating occupancy levels.
“It is extremely challenging at the moment to find enough casual workers to meet our business needs,” said Craig Coughlin, CEO, LUXXE Outsourced Hotel Services. “International students and working holiday makers made up around 44% of all hospitality workers in Australia pre-COVID. Until we see a return of these critical international workers, recruitment will be very challenging.
“Right now, we are having to turn to agency staff to top up our workforce and this obviously comes at a high cost to the business and our clients. And the flow-on effect is that many hotels in the industry are not able to sell all of their available rooms as they simply don’t have enough staff available to clean rooms, or chefs to staff kitchens.
“We are also finding the casual worker market very competitive with the reduced numbers, and workers are now in a position to ask for more than in the past, which is impacting on our costs and ability to recovery roadmap out of the pandemic.”
Using technology to manage casual workers
Reducing turnover is a key consideration for hotels in Australia today. Employers of casual workers are increasingly faced with staffing challenges as the economy reopens and competition for a limited pool of talent intensifies. To attract and retain workers today, hotels need to offer great financial stability and solutions that make their work shifts easier.
Using a mobile app for workforce management is the most useful tool for ensuring that your temp workers stay engaged with your company. Many hoteliers still rely on more basic and traditional methods of communication with temp workers (such as emails, phone calls or text messages) compared with more advanced digital engagement tools available to permanent employees. Deploying a mobile workforce management app also makes life easier for workers, because they can simply while on the go use the app to complete onboarding and training, accept shifts, show the days and times they are available for shifts, swap shifts, manage any relevant leave and communicate with managers and co-workers.
It is also a much more efficient way for event organisers to manage their temp workforce, allowing them to quickly communicate with staff, ensure onboarding and training is completed, make rostering changes at the last minute, geofence where workers can clock on via the mobile app to ensure they are in the right location for their shift and analyse workforce data. This all saves the company time and money.
Smooth the onboarding experience for new hires
Hotels can also create a better employee experience for returning or potential new recruits by offering a simple and rewarding onboarding and training experience for temp workers. By using a workforce app you can create fast onboarding and training experiences that staff can complete in any location and at any time. This helps employers to reduce the chances of a recruit not completing onboarding and not arriving for their first shift, while at the same time increasing employee morale and satisfaction through efficient methods of onboarding and training.
Ready to welcome
Now that hotels around Australia are preparing to welcome back guests, it is vital that managers and human resources professionals have the tools at their fingertips to manage the upsurge in demand. Utilising a workforce app to manage casual workers ensures that new hires are ready when customers return and that hotels can operate at full capacity by providing casual workers with an attractive and responsive work environment.
For more information on how you can better manage business disruption and your casual workforce, please visit: www.humanforce.com
Written by Mr Bruce Mackenzie, Founder & Managing Director at Humanforce.