Help, I'm still at the restaurant: why young people are struggling to escape the hospitality industry

Working in hospitality is a common rite of passage for the younger generation. Often considered ‘unskilled labour’, hospitality work provides the masses with food and drink, social outlets, event spaces, and human connection, all things necessary in today’s society. For many, it provides a career path, and for others, an entryway into the world of work. Countless teenagers seeking their first job inevitably find themselves donning an apron and taking their place within the exciting, fast-paced hospitality ecosystem.

It is common for young people to work in hospitality throughout school and university, before moving to an industry more aligned with their degree subject. Working part-time in cafés, bars, and restaurants, university students can make enough money to pay their rent and bills alongside their studies. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people at this stage in their lives to make the transition from hospitality to their chosen professions for a number of reasons. 

The industry does not shy away from making employees work hard. Long hours in often physically demanding roles leave hospitality workers exhausted by the time they arrive at home. With any experience working in hospitality, one would know how the industry tends to quietly ignore certain labour laws and regulations. Unions are almost non-existent, and many young people unknowingly fall victim to exploitation: working 60-hour weeks, 7+ days in a row, and pulling what those in the industry dub “a clopener”, where you work the opening shift mere hours after working the closing shift. Get home, go to bed, get up, go to work for 8-12 hours. Rinse and repeat.

For many, the work is both physically and mentally exhausting. Returning home after a 12-hour shift or 8 consecutive days of work, most people don’t have the energy to dedicate to job applications. In addition, it is rare to have more than one day off before returning to work, and that day is likely to be spent playing catch-up on sleep and chores like laundry and cleaning. Jobs in pubs and cafés often demand unsociable hours; late nights and early mornings, which alter the standard hours of the day for these workers. Hospitality also entails a huge level of customer interaction, which can be especially draining. Factor in a social life and family, and very little time is left for job-hunting.

If one does find the time to apply for jobs, other problems arise. The current job market is in a bad state, with many people struggling to find even part-time jobs or positions in retail and hospitality. In the corporate world, the roles hit the hardest are mostly entry-level, graduate, and junior roles. Rising costs have led to companies making decisions to cut costs, and the increased use of AI in workplaces has resulted in a significant decline in entry-level opportunities. 

In the UK, the number of graduate roles halved in the last year, the lowest since the pandemic. To make matters worse, there is increased competition for the roles available, owing to a rise in the number of jobseekers. Young people attempting to get jobs after graduating are finding themselves applying to tens of hundreds of roles, the majority of which don’t even make the effort to send a rejection. 

Countless “entry-level” roles on job platforms ask for a minimum of 2-3 years’ experience in the industry or an equivalent role, an impossible requirement for these young people to fulfil. They have years of hospitality experience with a wealth of transferable skills, and yet on paper they are completely unqualified. 

Many young people who remain working in hospitality post-university often have creative pursuits. It is common in the industry to be an aspiring creative; an actor, a writer, an artist, or a musician, to name a few. These industries are notoriously difficult to break into, and it is unfortunately rare that one can make a living in these fields.  With jobs in hospitality seeming like the only option to make money, it is difficult for these young people to escape the industry. Oftentimes creatives work a hospitality ‘day-job’ to pay the bills, doing their creative work on the side. 

Aside from the state of the job market, there are other, more insidious reasons why it seems impossible for many young people to leave the industry. Youngsters entering the working world are in the first stages of their adulthood, often having their first experiences with substances like alcohol and nicotine. Influenced by their environment and the people they work with, many young people in hospitality fall into the habit of drinking regularly and excessively. Others develop nicotine dependencies, using it as a crutch to relieve the pressure of their stressful work environments. 

While it might be considered unprofessional to arrive at work hungover in other industries, it is often viewed as normal and even expected in hospitality. Unhealthy behaviour is modelled by colleagues, and young people in the industry enter a cycle from which they struggle to escape. They develop a social life revolving around their job. Working evenings and weekends when others their age are socialising, hospitality workers socialise primarily with each other on days when others work. 

For all its vices, the hospitality industry is an essential component of society that provides jobs for people of all ages from all walks of life. Society would simply not function properly without it. However, when people who would otherwise migrate to other industries find themselves unable to do so, it indicates some underlying economic and social issues.  

It is alarming that increasing numbers of young people are finding themselves in this predicament. A career in hospitality is no less valuable than a career in another sector, but it should not be the only option for young people.

Written by: Kate O’Connor Shivnan

Edited by: Freddie Kagino