Page 64 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan 2019

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The Workforce
The workforce is characterised by a younger workforce whereby 29% are between the ages of 16 and 24. This aligns with the fact that the sector provides much needed part time job opportunities to younger people who may still be in full time education. Although positive in some ways, this has also been highlighted as an issue for the sector, reinforcing the perception that the sector can’t provide a career and is only a ‘stepping stone’ onto other things. There is no evidence to suggest that there is a significant gender imbalance with on average slightly more females being employed in the sector than males.
Work-readiness
The majority of respondents reported that the level of work readiness amongst new entrants either varies or they are not work ready at all. Similarly to other sectors they indicated that these entrants are missing the desired skills or work experience that employers are looking for. 49% of those who responded stated that entrants tend to have poor attitudes or low motivation.
Skills Challenges
42% of respondents are experiencing skills challenges. These are mostly prevalent in sales and customer service occupations and can be defined as communication skills (45%), specialist skills or knowledge needed to perform the role (43%) or problem solving (27%).
An analysis66 of the top hard and soft skills required by employers within the sector recruiting between January 2018 -2019 corroborate these findings;
Top Hard Skills
Sales
Management Customer Service Restaurant Operation Food Safety
Food Preparation Cooking Management Hospitality
Hygiene
Top Soft Skills
Leadership
Learning
Literacy
Cleanliness Creativity
Team Management Project Management Coordinating Listening Imagination
66 RLSP analysis of EMSI Job Posting Analytics
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales
Sector Profiles