Migrants key to supporting the hospitality industry

New research conducted by People 1st, the skills and workforce development charity, has found migrants play a significant role in all levels of the hospitality industry. 

The new report, Migrants in the Hospitality Industry, shows that 26% of the hospitality industry is made up of migrants, compared with 23% in 2009, 28% of these come from Europe.

The report found that the hospitality industry as a whole is benefitting from the skills of migrant workers, however they are concentrated in three key areas: London 69%, the West Midlands 28% and Manchester 25%.

People 1st also note that many of the migrants are filling entry level roles, with some filling management roles.

Martin-Christian Kent, executive director at People 1st, said: “It’s a simple fact that that without migrants working in our industry, we would have far greater skill gaps and skills shortages that we currently do.

“In fact, our industry is the fourth largest employer of people from abroad, with 69% of all migrants in the UK work in hospitality. That counts for a lot of jobs and no we are starting to see just how important they are; 28% of managers are migrants and they fill 37% of skilled roles in the industry.

“Just two examples really show the real impact migrants are having; 44,000 restaurant and catering managers are born outside the UK, and so are 91,000 chefs.”