Hospitality

• Commercial cookery and catering
• Asian cookery
• Patisserie
• Food and beverage
• Accommodation services
• Gaming
• Holiday parks and resorts

There are about 66,000 employers that operate in the hospitality sector. Most of these are small businesses, with less than 12% employing more than 20 people.

The biggest sector within hospitality is cafes and restaurants, with 32,000 businesses, followed by takeaway food services with 18,000 businesses.

The sectors within the industry with the highest number of businesses employing more than 20 people are pubs, taverns and bars (4,600 businesses, 28% more than 20 employees) and clubs (2,500 businesses, 27% more than 20).

_{Source: ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, Jun 2012 to Jun 2016}

There are about 824,000 people in Australia employed in the hospitality sector. This number is expected to rise by 12% to 923,000 by 2020. 567,000 people work in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services.

_{Source: Department of Jobs and Small Business Industry Projections - Five Years to November 2020.}

• 43% of the workforce is aged between 15 and 24 (compared with 16% for employment as a whole). By contrast, 21% of workers in the industry are aged 45 to 64, which is significantly lower than for employment as a whole (36%).
• The youngest age profiles within the industry are in the Cafés, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services and Pubs, Taverns and Bars sectors (with median ages of 24 years and 27 years respectively). Workers in Accommodation have a much higher median age (42 years).

_{Source: Skills IQ Environmental Scan for Tourism, Travel and Hospitality}

• There are 85,000 chefs in employment, and this number is expected to rise to 104,000 by 2020. Women make up 25% of the workforce, and 78% of work is full-time. The most common level of education attainment is Certificate III and IV.
• There are 73,000 café and restaurant managers in employment, and this number is expected to rise to 89,000 by 2020. Women make up 54% of the workforce, and 82% of work is full-time. The most common level of education attainment is Certificate III/IV.
• There are 25,500 hotel and motel managers in employment, and this number is expected to rise to 26,500 by 2020. Women make up 40% of the workforce, and 90% of work is full-time. The most common level of education attainment is Years 10 and 11.

_{Source: Australian Government Job Outlook website}

Coffee is big business. It accounts for 51% of revenue in the cafe sector with other drinks and food making up the rest. Revenue in the sector is expected to grow by 3.5% a year to total $6.3 billion by 2018/19. Skilled baristas can be the difference between success and failure in the sector.

Some clubs in Australia may be under financial stress, but overall, clubs have more members than ever before. Gaming is still the greatest source of revenue for the sector, but the main reason members come to clubs is for the food. As such many clubs want to ensure their staff have the skills to offer high quality food, so that they can compete with bistro-style restaurants.

The restaurant industry is cutting costs by outsourcing. This includes tasks such as taking reservations, cleaning, laundering, and providing pre-prepared foods.

_{Source: Skills IQ Environmental Scan for Tourism, Travel and Hospitality}

The Skill Shortage List Australia, Department of Jobs and Small Business reports a recruitment difficulty for Chefs. It notes that there is limited transferability of skills across cuisines and establishment types. There are marked differences in employers’ ability to recruit but there are relatively few suitable applicants per vacancy overall. The nature and extent of recruitment difficulties vary by location.

Skills IQ reports labour shortages for Cooks, Chefs, Waiters and Baristas.

_{Source: Skills IQ Environmental Scan for Tourism, Travel and Hospitality}

Workers in the sector may be required to obtain a Responsible Service of Alcohol licence.

• Australian Capital Territory
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Queensland
• Tasmania
• Victoria
• Western Australia