Previous magazine articles 
Bridging the Gap
The ever growing gap in the skills market is an ongoing issue for Scottish hospitality. The two key areas that need to be considered are how we can attract the right staff and how to ensure these people have the right skills for the job. With continuing growth in Scottish tourism, an sector worth over £4.2 billion in 2006, the industry must work towards a solution before demand overwhelms supply.
James Hacon reports from the front line of hospitality…
As a sector, hospitality offers the luxury of job security, flexible hours, travel opportunities and a wide range of incentives, plus a variety of roles and the ability to turn our young people into socially and in some cases financially enriched individuals.
The attraction and retention of staff is the key objective. With warnings of 'late nights, early mornings, long hours and low pay,' as a school teacher once advised me, putting people off, it is important that we work collectively to promote the benefits of careers in hospitality. By targeting children at school age and backing such schemes as the Rotary Young Chef and industry work-experience placements, schools are able to promote vocational subjects. Then, as these children grow older and more experienced, colleges and universities should encourage practical training schemes combined with academic study through nationally recognised qualifications such as NVQs, Foundation Degrees or HNDs.
I myself would be lying if I said that I haven't considered other industries with the allure of higher salaries and the temptation of the 9-5 workload. When I speak to other young people in the industry and, more importantly, to friends outside the sector, the often negative perceptions soon surface. However, as someone who grew up in a hospitality-inspired environment from a young age, I personally couldn't imagine doing anything else.
In recent years the emergence and prominence of the celebrity chef and many hospitality- based reality television series has greatly increased the profile of our industry. While these programmes should, I believe, provide an accurate insight into our careers, it is equally important that we use these mediums as a means of attracting staff by using the endorsements of well-known personalities to spread a positive message.
Once we have attracted the right people, we then need to ensure they have the right skills for the given jobs, as an under-skilled workforce can result in higher operation costs and lower levels of customer service.
From the shop floor, as it were, the training is starting to improve, with a greater number of local colleges offering a wider variety of courses in hospitality. Indeed, many of our universities are starting to be recognised internationally, but much of Europe is still some distance ahead of us in terms of individual businesses liaising with education-providers.
The key to preparing our younger generation is to ensure they have the necessary practical skills and experience, backed up with formal qualifications, to bridge the divide between them and the graduates who expect salaries of over £20,000.
If can work together with young people through schools and colleges, while encouraging vocational training within the workplace, we can bridge this gap and catch up with the likes of Germany, France, Holland and, eventually, Switzerland.
James Hacon is the Glenmor Concierge at Gleneagles.
This article has been edited from its original version. For the complete feature, please see Catering in Scotland magazine May/June 2008.
To join our database, go to
Media Pack on this website and click on
Subscribe.
