UK Hospitality sector is facing a shortage of staff while preparing to reopen. In London especially, the waitress rates have already gone up from 11£ to 15£ an hour and wages are increasing across the whole sector. Many restaurants are recruiting in view of the full reopening planned for May/June. Among these, PizzaExpress just announced is looking for 1,000 staff to join its UK restaurants.

The reason for this crisis is not just the pandemic – which has forced many to either return to their home country or switch to another job while restaurants and bars were closed – but also the post-Brexit tightening of immigration rules.

The result is operators seem to be left with fewer options: not reopening or doing it with reduced profits (caused by increased salaries); or opening with less employees which can translate into lower quality of service.

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https://www.foodserviceequipmentjournal.com/kitchen-staff-shortage-havent-we-been-here-before/