INSIGHTS
How can the pub sector turn short-term hospitality roles into long-term careers?

Staff turnover has been a long-standing challenge in the sector. With National Insurance hikes and an elevated minimum wage², mitigating the cost of hiring and quality of training is going to be something else pubs need to think about as much as possible to save precious pennies. 

But how can pubs turn what are often viewed as ‘stop-gap’ jobs into long-term careers? 

Who is filling pub roles right now?

Over 50% of UK pub sector employees fall within the 16-24 age category³, putting them in Gen Z. 

What do they care about? 

According to research from Deloitte⁴, this group cares a lot more about more personalized journeys through their career. They want an employer who will invest time, effort and resources into their development to keep their careers varied and interesting. In other words, they want to know their employer cares about their success. 

In the pub sector, this might look like providing training that blends the latest technology and the mentorship of your more senior staff members. Training that helps them feel they can take ownership of their future, and demonstrates you want to help them get there.

What are the challenges for retaining good pub team members?

Temporary circumstances of students 

Because of the age of this particular group, retaining even the best staff members is going to be difficult, as a percentage of them will be working shift-based part-time roles between studies or other commitments. They may not intend to stay in their home town or university city. Or they may wish to follow a different chosen long-term career path following the completion of their studies. 

This already leaves you with a smaller number of potential candidates to take down a long-term pathway in your pub. 

Soft skill shortages 

It’s not a universal truth, but there are some perceptions that some Gen Z individuals lack the soft skills to be able to cope in a pub or hospitality environment. 

It may simply be a case of lack of confidence. 45% of Gen Z say they don’t have the same confidence in their communication skills as they do in their technical abilities⁵, for example. 

This can make the customer-facing nature of many pub roles feel intimidating to a lot of candidates. 

Perceived lack of career opportunities 

Nearly 45% of 18-24 year olds believe that hospitality doesn’t offer real career progression⁶. With this age group making up such a large percentage of the staff currently working in pubs, this is concerning for the future of pubs and other hospitality venues. 

Something has to change in order to cater for the changing needs of pub teams in 2025. 

How can employers address these challenges? 

From what we’ve discussed, there are three key things that need to be addressed here: 

Creating more personalized training and career paths for individuals

Changing the perception of pubs and hospitality as a long-term career

Improving confidence in soft skills for a Gen Z audience

Creating more personalized training and career paths 

Already, a number of pubs have used their Attensi technology to provide highly unique, personalized learning journeys for their teams, within the mediums they’re used to – think mobile-first technology, including mini-games, game-based simulations and highly realistic AI avatars they can chat to and practice difficult conversations with. 

Using Attensi CREATOR, you have the power to create the modules and materials that are most relevant to your team and their day-to-day roles. Whether it’s nailing food safety compliance or planning their journey from floor staff to manager, you can quite literally map out their path within your Attensi platform. 

Watch as engagement soars, knowledge retention improves, and your teams get excited for their futures with you. 

Improving soft skills for a Gen Z audience 

In our survey of over 2,000 employees in the UK and US, we found that nearly 90% of Gen Z would welcome training on how to deal with difficult conversations⁷. 39% of Gen Z respondents said they’d felt anxiety about difficult conversations in their workplace in the last six months⁸. 

Our data suggests that as many as 63% of Gen Z believe that AI can provide a safe place to practice their vital interpersonal skills⁹. 

With the ability to give participants completely objective real-time feedback on their performance, Attensi AI provides that space for individuals to grow their confidence in those all-important communication and dispute management skills in a risk-free environment. 

Changing the perception of pubs and hospitality as a long-term career 

There’s no getting around the fact that the cost of employing teams is going to increase in 2025. When the cost of hiring also remains between £1,000 and £3,000 per person¹⁰, finding ways of nurturing your existing team members is going to be critical.

It might seem tempting to slash your learning and development budget, but really, investing in your existing staff members and helping them carve out a pathway with your pub could help you make the saving you’re looking for. 

With Attensi, you can quite literally create a journey map – covering all your important material and milestones. Individuals will have a visual representation of their journey with you – showing them that you’re also in it for the long haul. 

There’s no question pubs are going to have to do some serious pivoting to keep people coming and the pints pouring. But I really do think changing the approach to the development of existing staff could be a key player in pub success this year.  

If you’d like to find out more about our Attensi solutions and how to apply them to your pub, please book a demo now.