Published: 22 February 2024
Hospitality recruitment leaders and future industry talent come together at University of Sunderland in London
On Thursday 22 February, the University of Sunderland in London hosted the Hospitality Jobs UK’s annual conference entitled Recruitment & Retention in Hospitality – 2024 and Beyond. Bringing 150 industry recruitment leaders together to share insight and engage with current hospitality students.
The all-day event, held in partnership with Hospitality and Universities United, will welcome senior representatives from key firms such as Compass Group, Punch Pubs & Co, and Burger King.
Guest speakers will share insight, trends, and good practice on staff recruitment and retention – with topics including employee wellbeing, the results from the UK’s largest hospitality salary survey, and how employers can use AI and social media to ‘skyrocket’ their recruitment campaigns.
With the UK hospitality sector employing over 3.5 million people and providing an annual economic contribution of £93 billion, attracting, retaining, and developing current and future talent is critical to its continued success. Given its scale, hospitality matters to the wider UK economy.
Looking ahead to the workforce of the future, current hospitality students, including from University of Sunderland in London, outlined expectations for their careers in the sector, in a session entitled ‘GenZ Talks: Expectations of The Future Workforce’.
Later in the day, a group of employers will give short talks to students about their career offer and the benefits of working in the sector – providing a fantastic networking opportunity for the university’s students and hospitality recruiters.
Blerton Hyseni, Programme Manager (Tourism & Hospitality), who has led the organisation for the event at the university, said:
Following the success of last year’s Hospitality Jobs UK’s annual conference, I am delighted that we are again hosting this key industry event. As a careers-focused university, such opportunities are incredibly important for our students and offer them valuable industry insight and contacts for their future careers in the sector.