The Right Answers to the Wrong Questions? Observations on Skill Development and Training in the United Kingdom's Hospitality Sector

Abstract

This article is informed by a literature review of current research on skills and skills development undertaken for People 1st, the Sector Skills Council covering hospitality, gaming, leisure and tourism activities in England. The article suggests that much government policy towards skills needs in the sector is based on a number of erroneous assumptions. Fundamentally, State training interventions chiefly involve education and training supply, and not low levels of employer demand for training, or low employer demand for a highly skilled workforce in the sector. There is a culture of training avoidance in many UK firms in the hospitality sector. Ironically, education and training policies are exclusively influenced by employers in national government, and this assumes that sector employers represent a homogeneous group. Yet there are many differences between firms and their different demands for varied skills sets in the workforce. The assumption that employers are looking for hard skills in employees is also questionable. In fact, there are a number of different skill clusters that employers seek, and each operates under different labour market conditions. For example, much of the discourse about the shortage of chefs assumes that one set of skills exists for those who cook; this article suggests that there are at least three different skills levels. The article ultimately argues that People 1st and those making training policy for the sector are often working from flawed assumptions. They need to ask why so many firms are training avoiders, and to listen to a wider audience of stakeholders than merely employers. This would allow them to develop a much more sophisticated understanding of the demand for labour in hospitality firms.