While a majority of hospitality professionals express a desire to build long-term careers, they face significant barriers including poor mental health support, lack of flexibility, and unsafe or discriminatory environments.
Key issues around recruitment, retention, and attrition have been identified in a recent study conducted by CGA by NIQ, Celebrate Her, and Allara Global. The global survey explores why individuals choose to enter or leave the hospitality industry, the barriers they encounter throughout their careers, and the actions needed to keep talented staff engaged, healthy, and supported.
Encouragingly, the results point to a sector filled with passion and potential. But conversely, they also demonstrate systemic failings, particularly around mental health, safety, flexibility, and inclusion. And accordingly, these shortfalls are exacerbating existing issues with staff and skills shortages.
“While Celebrate Her is about supporting women, this survey allows us to gain invaluable insights into the wider workforce, data we can now use to influence better policies, working practices, and attitudes across the board”, explained Anna Sebastian, founder of Celebrate Her.
More Than a Stopgap Career
The findings challenge the assumption that hospitality is a short-term job or stepping-stone. On the contrary, over two thirds (66%) of staff say they want to stay in the sector long term, with over half choosing to make a career of it after discovering a sense of purpose and belonging, despite joining the industry by chance.
This indicates a workforce motivated by guest connection, skills development, and collaboration – traits that should be nurtured.
Mental health and hospitality
It’s clear there’s no shortage of strong career ambition. Even so, the findings highlight critical failings in wellbeing support:
- 85% say mental health support is important to them. Yet only 40% feel their workplace offers enough
- Almost half (49%) are dissatisfied with their work-life balance
- 45% are hesitant to raise mental health concerns with their employer
As for what’s specifically driving poor mental health amongst hospitality staff, key culprits include:
- Stress and burnout (62%)
- Poor work-life balance (41%)
- Ineffective leadership (32%)
- Lack of recognition (30%)
- Excessive workload (29%)
On the other hand, the top counterbalancing factors cited as supporting wellbeing are:
- Team collaboration (54%)
- Positive workplace culture (45%)
- Flexible working hours (44%)
- Supportive management (41%)
This is a clear mandate. Staff know what helps. It’s now on employers to provide it.
Barriers still blocking progress
There’s evident commitment from staff. Yet the industry’s greatest assets continue to face too many persistent barriers, such as:
- Almost a third (30%) have felt unsafe at work due to harassment or similar issues
- Almost three quarters (73%) of those who reported an incident said it was never resolved
- 1 in 3 women say they’ve experienced career limitations due to discrimination
- More than three quarters (76%) of working parents in the sector have turned down opportunities due to family commitments
- 42% of those thinking about leaving the industry say they haven’t had adequate training
Give people a reason to stay
Celebrate Her is calling on the industry to treat the findings as a roadmap for action, not just for women, but for everyone working across hospitality.
Lou Finn, CGA by NIQ’s Senior Consumer Research Executive added: “This is an industry full of energy, passion, and potential. But there is potential to burn out the very people who bring it to life if wellbeing, inclusion, and support are not improved. The data makes it crystal clear. Employers and partners who act now will be better placed to build stronger businesses and lead the industry into a more sustainable, successful era. And this will be driven by top talent that wants to work, progress, and inform the future of the sector.”
‘A global evaluation of the drinks hospitality industry’ explores why people enter—and leave—the sector, and the persistent challenges they face across gender, ethnicity, age, and background. Click here to download the latest report in full or contact the CGA by NIQ team to learn more.
Conducted by CGA by NIQ in collaboration with Celebrate Her and Allara Global, ‘A global evaluation of the drinks hospitality industry’ collected responses from 743 hospitality industry employees across 55 different countries between February and April 2025. Employees qualified to participate if they were over 18 years of age and currently work in the hospitality industry or have done so within the past 6 months.
CGA by NIQ’s best-in-class suite of research capabilities deliver expert insights into how consumers are interacting with the channel, what drives their decision-making, and where the key growth opportunities lie in the UK and many more countries. Contact the CGA team to discover how CGA by NIQ’s On Premise sales measurement and consumer insights can support winning brand strategies and opportunities.
