Leisure and hospitality shed 40,000 more jobs in July while summer travel kept humming along. The gap between the guests showing up and the people available to serve them is becoming the most expensive line item nobody budgeted for.
Leisure and hospitality added 70,000 jobs in May, but average wage growth is running 80 basis points below inflation. The hotels that figure out how to talk about purchasing power instead of percentage increases will keep their people this summer... the ones that don't will spend July training replacements.
The worst jobs report in years is about to hit your top line and your applicant pool at the same time... and most GMs aren't ready for what that combination actually looks like on a P&L.
The February jobs report is a gift and a grenade for hotel operators. You're about to have more applicants than you've seen in five years... and fewer guests to serve them.
Unemployment hit 4.3% in February, job-switching premiums are at record lows, and everyone's calling it good news for retention. It's not that simple. The labor market just split into two problems, and most hotel operators are only solving one of them.
