Caterer.com is working with Choose Hospitality and top hospitality brands to inspire the next generation of talent via a series of inspiring videos, content and resources.
Working with key industry figures, including the likes of Tom Kerridge and James Martin, amongst other influential TikTok content creators, the campaign is targeting a vast audience of young workers considering their next role or future careers. So far the initiative has reached over 40,000 people on Tik Tok and Instagram, with Caterer.com also seeing over 4 million applications to jobs on its website during the last quarter of 2022.
The series of videos, featuring TikTok influencers including Luke Flunder, thealmostcook and Marcus Bean, are focused on the ‘day in the life’ of a hospitality worker, demonstrating the versatility of the sector and its benefits, whilst breaking down negative perceptions surrounding the likes of flexibility and pay.
Research from the hospitality hiring partner found that 200,000 EU workers have left the sector since the pandemic began and whilst 61 per cent of hospitality employers have been registered to hire internationally, immigration policies are discouraging 89 per cent from doing this. With this in mind, the need to engage with homegrown talent and change misconceptions of the sector has never been more important.
Caterer.com has also created a ‘Hospitality Heroes’ content series currently being shown in classrooms across the UK. The videos have already been shared via Youth Employment UK and have been downloaded by over 100 schools to support as a teaching resource.
With previous Caterer.com research showing that over 95 per cent of school leavers would not consider a career in hospitality, the relatable but inspirational videos aim to change perceptions of the sector as they follow employees at different stages in their career.
“The success of the hospitality sector continues to be hampered by significant talent gaps, and whilst there is no silver bullet to solving this, every employer and organisation in the industry can act to make a difference – and Caterer.com are pleased to play a significant part,” explains Kathy Dyball, director at caterer.com.
“Future talent for hospitality will take many forms, and young people are one key cohort,” she adds. “Engaging them in a long term, sustainable way is crucial, and through our partnerships with Choose Hospitality and Youth Employment UK, we’ve created genuinely engaging and useful video and resources that reach young people where they are at. The impact of the campaign so far is clear, with 40,000 people reached across Tik Tok and Instagram and 4 million applications to jobs on Caterer.com in the last quarter of 2022 alone.”
Claire Bosi, editor of Chef and Restaurant Magazine and co-founder of Choose Hospitality also commented: “Over the past few months, we have received comments like ’this is what our industry needs’ or ‘we think you really can make a difference’ from business owners and operators across many disciplines within the hospitality sector. We know that Choose Hospitality together with Caterer.com will, in time, create an environment in which young people and job seekers are opting for a role in hospitality as their first and preferred choice.
“Collaboration, working as one team, with one shared purpose is what hospitality is all about,” she explains, “and this is why Choose Hospitality works. We understand, from first-hand experience, the challenges faced by both employees and employers. We see how preconceptions of a career in hospitality may have diminished the numbers coming through in recent years, we acknowledge that much work is being, and still must be done, to reverse those preconceptions.”
To watch Caterer.com’s Hospitality Hiring videos and find current vacancies visit: www.caterer.com/advice/what-types-of-jobs-are-there-in-hospitality.
For more information about Youth Employment visit www.youthemployment.org.uk/.
