Employers urged to make tourism jobs more hospitable
29-08-2006
Employers in the hospitality and tourism sector in the north-east of England need to make jobs more appealing to staff, a union has advised.
A Northern TUC report concludes that developing existing and future staff is key to filling the 20 per cent of hospitality and tourism vacancies in the region that businesses say they cannot fill.
The hospitality and tourism sector in the north-east employs nearly 90,000 people, around 15 per cent of whom hold no qualifications. Only a low proportion of the workforce holds level 4 or higher qualifications.
Almost two-fifths of the workforce is aged between 16 and 24 and the average wage in the sector is nearly half of the average wage for all industries in the region.
"The challenge is to make tourism and hospitality a career of choice, and not a last option destination," said Northern TUC regional secretary, Kevin Rowan.
"Placing greater added value upon the individuals who work in the sector is vital, and it involves investment in training, improvement to wages and conditions, and ensuring that the work on offer in the sector presents an attractive proposition."
A government survey of more than 300 full-time trades and professions released last week found that the role of leisure or theme park attendant was the most poorly-paid job, earning only £10,420 per year on average.
Digg 
Delicious 
Reddit 
StumbleUpon 
Google 
Technorati 
Netvouz