During the COVID-19 closures, hotel staff around the world were faced with the precarious prospect of staying home. For instance, in the United States, 70 percent of hotel staff were furloughed or laid off. Many hospitality workers reevaluated their career paths and work-life balance as they braved the pandemic—since then, these labor pools have shed their concierge badges and room service trolleys for jobs that offer more flexibility or higher pay, such as retail, e-commerce, or warehousing.
Hotels are now battling to restore their staff complement to pre-pandemic levels. A recent survey of 200 hotels conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) revealed that 87 percent of hotels in the United States do not have…