º£½ÇÊÓÆµ

Oops.

Our website is temporarily unavailable in your location.

We are working hard to get it back online.

PRIVACY
Retail & Consumer

Hospitality sector suffers huge job losses as costs soar

Data shows that 89,000 hospitality jobs have been lost since the Budget last October

A pint of Heinken being poured

Over half of all job losses in the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ since last October's budget have occurred in the hospitality sector, which is grappling with escalating costs, new data reveals.

Out of the 164,641 job losses in the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ since the Budget last October, nearly 89,000 have been in the hospitality industry.

The extent of job losses is three times worse than the Office for Budget Responsibility's estimate, which predicted 50,000 job losses as a direct result of changes to employer NICs.

Kate Nicholls, chair of º£½ÇÊÓÆµHospitality, described the number of job losses as "staggering".

"The sheer scale of costs being placed upon hospitality has forced businesses to make excruciatingly tough decisions to cut jobs – with part-time and flexible roles often those most at risk," as reported by .

"At a time when the country needs jobs, the Government should be encouraging hospitality to grow and create jobs, not tax them out of existence," Ms Nicholls said.

Economists have warned the rise in the national living wage and the increasing levy and threshold for national insurance contributions for employers would disproportionately impact firms with lower-skilled, lower-paid workers who are often younger and in forms of flexible or part-time work.

Retail and construction firms, along with hospitality companies, also fit this profile.