“We don’t deal with hospitality jobs”, pub careers have “an eventual glass ceiling” and “you must be claiming benefits” to receive any career advice, were among the responses relayed to pub employees who were asked by Perceptions Group to visit their local Jobcentre Plus and enquire about careers in the sector.
'Gobsmacked'
One employee who visited a centre in Camden, north London, said: “I truly am gobsmacked by the lack of knowledge the lady I spoke to showed towards hospitality. All she was able to do was a job search and read out from the screen what was in front of her.”
Another visitor said the advisor only mentioned jobs in hotels and the Costa Coffee chain, and when he asked about jobs in the pub sector was given a link to the JD Wetherspoon website.
“There is not much positive stuff in there given the number of vacancies in the industry,” Pender told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser.
Looming skills gap
Addressing the PMA’s Pub Retail Summit, Pender said that 88,000 new recruits would be needed annually by the industry over the next three years to fill a looming skills gap.
Despite the disheartening results of the mystery visits, he praised the work of Hackney Community Centre which recently worked with its local job centre to succeed in securing placements and jobs in the sector for 14 young people.
Fragmented industry
“We’re a very fragmented industry in a lot of ways,” said Pender. “There are a few big companies with a great reputation but there are also lots of entry level opportunities at the smaller end. We need to identify the industry as a place where young people can start a career and end up running their own business,” he said.
“The job centres are not going to help us, so we have to help ourselves a bit more and make us more accessible. When all associations stick together we are so productive — as we saw happen with duty.”
Jobs database
He called for there to be a free centralised database of jobs in the industry, featuring apprenticeships, entry level and management positions, and suggested it could be piloted by an organisation like British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) or the Hospitality Guild.
He said Perceptions Group would be meeting with trade organisations — including the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, the British Beer & Pub Association, the BII and People 1st — in January to agree a concerted message to lobby the Department for Work & Pensions to help support the industry.