COVID-19’s impact on the hospitality workforce – new crisis or amplification of the norm?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality workforce in situ between mid-April and June 2020. Design/methodology/approach This is a viewpoint paper that brings together a variety of sources and intelligence relating the impacts on hospitality work of the COVID-19 pandemic at three levels: macro (global, policy, government), meso (organisational) and micro (employee). It questions whether the situations faced by hospitality workers as a result of the pandemic are seed-change different from the precarious lives they normally lead or just a (loud) amplification of the “normal”. Findings In light of the fluid environment relating to COVID-19, conclusions are tentative and question whether hospitality stakeholders, particularly consumers, governments and the industry itself, will emerge from the pandemic with changed attitudes to hospitality work and hospitality workers. Practical implications This raises questions about hospitality work for key stakeholders to address in the future, some of which are systemic in terms of how precarious labour forces, critical to the global economy are to be considered by policy makers, organisations in a re-emerging competitive market for talent and for those who chose (or not) to work in hospitality. Social implications This paper contributes to ongoing debates about precarious work and the extent to which such practices are institutionalised and adopts an “amplification model” that may have value in futures-orientated analysis about hospitality and tourism. Originality/value This paper is wholly original and a reflection on the COVID-19 crisis. It provides a point of wider reference with regard to responses to crises and their impact on employment in hospitality, highlighting how ongoing change, fluidity and uncertainty serve to magnify and exacerbate the precarious nature of work in the industry.

The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on domestic tourism: A DEMATEL method analysis on quarantine decisions

“…The effect of COVID-19 on different aspects of the tourism industry was highlighted in the literature. Among them are the social costs of tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Qiu et al, 2020 ), the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourist’s psyche ( Kock et al, 2020 ), hotel marketing and management ( Jiang and Wen, 2020 ), hospitality workforce ( Baum et al, 2020 ), sustainability in the hospitality industry ( Jones and Comfort, 2020 ), and global tourism industry ( Uğur and Akbıyık, 2020 ). Additionally, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinese citizens’ lifestyle and travel ( Wen et al, 2020 ), Indian food and hospitality sector with specific reference to potato crop ( Masih et al, 2020 ), and tourism sector and hotel businesses in Marmaris ( Bayat, 2020 ) has been researched in the literature.…”

How does hotel employees’ satisfaction with the organization’s COVID-19 responses affect job insecurity and job performance?

“…The hotel industry is very vulnerable to health crises, disasters, and other risks (Jung et al, 2021). Moreover, this industry's structural characteristics engender a high level of precarity for employees (Robinson et al, 2019), many of whom rely on the broader tourism industry for employment (Baum et al, 2020). Research on the impact of unexpected events on the hospitality industry has often pointed to consumers and managers (Ritchie & Jiang, 2019).…”

“…The hotel industry has particularly experienced considerable sales losses as occupancy rates have widely dropped due to the severe decline in the travelers' number (Jung et al, 2021). Therefore, COVID-19 can engender negative psychology in employees, such as fear or stress (Baum et al, 2020;Dryhurst et al, 2020). Irrespective of government interventions and proposals for various relief packages, employees' fear and stress may persist.…”

“…According to the conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989), the employees' stressful status can harm JP. Moreover, facing various negative consequences caused by COVID-19, downsizing to diminish labor costs and restructuring operations potentially undertaken by organizations can threaten employees and create feelings of job insecurity (Baum et al, 2020;Meyer et al, 2018). He and Harris (2020) suggested that COVID-19 can offer an opportunity for organizations to shift towards more authentic and genuine corporate social responsibility (CSR) and contribute to resolving urgent global environmental and social dares.…”

What happened women working in the hospitality industry when COVID-19 struck?

“…The industry is a significant employer and its workforce has been, and continues to be, adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. 1 Worldwide, much of the hospitality workforce is female-dominated 2 and, globally, women were most affected by the pandemic and suffered more job losses than men in the unpredictable and changing conditions. 3 Therefore, exploring women's employment in the hospitality industry during the crisis is an important issue to investigate.…”