Hospitality Industry Seeing Explosive Summer Hiring Surge as Sector Posts Nearly 1.3 Million Jobs

Fewer industries represent the public’s eagerness to have things get back to normal than the hospitality industry. From banquet halls and hotels to concert venues, baseball stadiums and amusement parks, the sector is looking for a comeback after being hard-hit by the pandemic. And, it’s fueling a hiring surge and immediate opportunities for job seekers, according to staffing leader PeopleReady.

A new analysis by PeopleReady being released today finds that hospitality-related job postings are up 58% from this time last year and 28% from 2019’s pre-pandemic job postings. With more than 310,000 jobs posted in the last 30 days alone, the number of current openings has soared to roughly 1.3 million.

“As the world opens back up, there is a hiring boom in the hospitality industry. And, whether you’re a recent graduate from high school or college or just someone looking for a side gig, opportunities are abundant right now,” said Taryn Owen, president of PeopleReady. “From servers and bartenders to cooks and concession workers, there is a high demand for hospitality workers in events and venues in particular.”

PeopleReady says the roles most in demand right now include:

• Waitstaff.
• Bartenders.
• Servers.
• Cooks and food preparation workers.
• Janitors and housekeepers.
• Hosts and hostesses.

Many areas of the industry are offering short-term gig work, and there will be long-term or more permanent roles available as well, advises PeopleReady.

“Our customers are at the forefront of bringing back many of those activities and events people missed the most over the past year, from going to a baseball game to seeing a concert or traveling and staying in a hotel,” said Kristy Willis, chief sales officer for PeopleReady. “What we’re seeing is not just a hiring surge as people and businesses look to get back to normal; the number of hospitality industry job opportunities are higher now than they were before the pandemic, resulting in more opportunities for job seekers.”

To connect job seekers with available jobs in hospitality and other industries, PeopleReady is holding nationwide hiring events. The staffing company has a variety of ways for job seekers to access job opportunities: via app (JobStack) and online (jobs.peopleready.com).