LABOUR
FORCE
SHORTAGE

Clyburn Valley

Shortages of labour have hit the tourism industry especially hard. Operators are reducing hours of operation or unable to expand operations as a result of an inability to hire enough staff. Contributing to the labour shortage is a lack of available housing for potential workers.

One method of addressing the issues in the labour market is to seek ways to expand housing for workers.

A second method is to identify compensation, roadblocks, and features that impact a worker’s decision to seek, retain, leave, or return to a job in the tourism industry. These might include issues such as wages, team building, schedule flexibility, and job satisfaction. CBITTN is conducting research to determine the factors that most impact decisions related to employment in the tourism industry.

Another method of mitigating labour force shortages is by maximizing the existing labour force through training and the use of technology. CBITTN offers free labour force and management training to help offset shortages in staff.

A fourth strategy for dealing with labour force shortages is to alter the business strategy to minimize variable costs while maximizing revenue generation. An example of this strategy would be a restaurant closing down indoor dining and only serving take out, thereby reducing the cost of servers, cleaners, and utilities for the dining space while maintaining the core food service with the minimum of associated costs.