halfway through the year…but where are we headed?

We're over halfway through the year. Sorry to bring that up! 

But it feels like a good moment to pause and reflect. As always, I’m focused on what matters most when hiring in hospitality – where are the challenges, and the opportunities? Where should the focus be as we move through the next few months and beyond into the new year ahead? 

sense check. 

Certain areas of the industry are very focused on survival right now, and understandably so. This particularly applies to smaller businesses who are really feeling the squeeze of increased costs from all angles. There have been significant hospitality job losses, and there are fewer open vacancies than there have been. But whilst there are technically more people in market for a role, finding great people who are right for your workforce is still tough. 

And that means hiring approaches matter more than ever. 

Bearing that in mind, here’s what I’m focusing on with my clients for the second half of 2026.  

high level candidate experience. 

I've talked a lot about this before now, and it sits at the heart of the mum philosophy: how you treat candidates is crucial. They will react and they will remember. Hospitality has never had an amazing reputation as an employer, and the increasingly poor treatment of applicants (in a world driven by cost cutting and AI adoption) only solidifies that view. How does that serve you, now and in the future? 

Candidates (of any age or background) behave as we all do in time-poor digital age. They expect fast, mobile-friendly processes. But they also expect to be treated with respect. They expect honest communication. They expect efficiency and clarity. And if they don't get those things, they will disengage; not just from your process, but potentially from hospitality altogether. 

Every touchpoint in the hiring process is a chance to treat people well and demonstrate who you are. It’s a chance to hire them, now or in the future. It’s an investment in your employer brand and reputation. Don’t take short cuts. 

everyday wellbeing is essential. 

This one's both personal and professional for me. Support of mental and physical health in this industry isn't an optional extra. It's central to whether people stay, develop, and whether they recommend hospitality to others. It’s also, in my view, a fundamental human right. 

We've made progress over the years and I don’t want to take away from that. The conversation around wellbeing is more open than it's ever been. But the change needs to go deeper than understanding, discussion, and having a robust EAP. It means looking at the everyday culture and process; at rotas, workloads, management training, communication and the day-to-day reality of how people are treated. Because how we treat people in our day-to-day actions, conversations and behaviour has a direct impact on their wellbeing. If we want to retain good people, we must enable their wellbeing. It’s the least that they deserve. 

make flex the norm. 

Not every role in hospitality can be flexible, but flexible working comes in many forms. Predictable, fair scheduling. Time for adjustment. Appreciation of the demands of lives outside work. A culture that supports flexible requests. Relevant, useable employee benefits. 

It’s about seeing your workforce as a collection of individuals not one homogenous mass. The businesses getting this right are the ones people (of any age and in any role) want to work for. 

embrace skills based hiring. 

Everyone wants to attract and recruit people who deliver and are retained, and that means looking closely at what candidates can do and who they are. If your view of who you want to hire is narrow and reflects only your existing team, you’ll miss a world of opportunity. 

Some of the most successful hospitality people have had the attitude and values the employer was looking for. They had demonstrable ability to learn and develop. They had experience that added to the culture and the business and didn’t simply reflect it.  

Skills based hiring also means taking diversity seriously. Because building teams that reflect the communities we serve makes for better hospitality, adds different perspectives, brings new ideas into your workplace and makes your culture one people want to be part of. Inclusive hiring makes practical business. 

stay human. 

We all know hospitality is a people business, so hospitality hiring must reflect that. 

Trends, technology and economic pressures will evolve, and the sector must respond to that. By all means streamline your processes; but also remain resolutely human. Treat people with respect. Be honest. Communicate up front. Have a clear, defined process and stick to it. Care about the outcome for every applicant, even if that simply means acknowledging their application and politely and carefully declining them. Apply the same approach to your people as you would your guests.  

to 2027 and beyond. 

Hospitality is going through the mill right now and I’m not naïve as to what that means for the sector, with so many businesses closing each day. The industry is radically changing. But it will remain and it will find a new form. The businesses that lead with humanity now, that invest in their people today, that take candidate care seriously as a  basic principle; they'll be the ones everyone wants to work for now and in the years to come.