Introduction
The hospitality industry is at a turning point, with HR leaders playing a pivotal role in addressing workforce challenges and driving strategic transformation. Based on insights from 1,000 HR leaders in the hospitality sector, this report explores the top pain points, innovative solutions, and strategic objectives shaping the future of HR.
From combating high turnover rates and seasonal hiring challenges to leveraging digital tools for talent acquisition and enhancing employee experience, hospitality HR teams are evolving to meet the demands of a dynamic and competitive industry.
Keep reading to discover how HR leaders are overcoming obstacles and positioning their teams as key drivers of ROI, scalability, and long-term organizational success.
Four insights for the future of HR and talent acquisition in hospitality
Insight 1
Quality of hire and employee turnover rate take precedence in 2025
As the hospitality industry evolves, HR leaders are increasingly focused on leveraging innovation and data-driven strategies to address workforce challenges and position their teams as strategic contributors to organizational success.
Key HR performance indicators for hospitality leaders
The top KPIs identified by hospitality HR leaders include quality of hire, employee turnover rate, and time to fill open positions. These metrics emphasize the critical importance of hiring skilled talent, retaining employees in a high-turnover industry, and streamlining recruitment processes to meet operational demands efficiently. Together, they form the foundation for measuring HR’s impact on organizational goals.
Strategic focus areas for 2025
Looking ahead, hospitality HR leaders are prioritizing enhancing employee experience, reflecting the industry’s need to foster satisfaction, engagement, and retention in an increasingly competitive labor market.
Leveraging AI for recruitment is another significant focus, as advanced tools can streamline hiring workflows and improve candidate evaluations. Additionally, preparing for the future of work and evolving employee expectations highlights the industry’s commitment to adapting to changing workplace dynamics and employee needs.
What is the most important question hospitality HR leaders should be asking as they plan for success in 2025?
Metrics for future improvement
To strengthen their impact, hospitality HR leaders are targeting improvements in metrics that directly influence hiring success and workforce stability. Quality of hire remains the most emphasized metric by far (43% of respondents rated it as #1), underlining its importance in ensuring recruitment strategies align with organizational objectives.
Employee retention rate and background check and screening efficiency are also key areas for improvement, reflecting the need to reduce turnover and enhance pre-employment processes.
What HR metrics do hospitality HR leaders believe need the most improvement?
What this means for employers
- Focus on hiring quality: Prioritize quality of hire as a core metric to ensure recruitment processes attract skilled and reliable talent, potentially reducing long-term costs and inefficiencies.
- Invest in employee experience: Enhance engagement and satisfaction through targeted initiatives to reduce turnover and build a committed workforce.
- Leverage AI for recruitment: Implement AI-driven tools to streamline hiring processes, improve decision-making, and address time-to-fill challenges in a dynamic industry.
- Prepare for workforce evolution: Adapt to changing employee expectations and workplace models by aligning HR practices with the future of work.
Insight 2
Leveraging technology to overcome barriers and drive increased efficiency
As the hospitality industry navigates a rapidly evolving workforce landscape, HR leaders are turning to technology and data-driven solutions to streamline hiring processes and improve overall efficiency.
AI solutions for hiring
Hospitality HR leaders are embracing AI to optimize recruitment and retention. AI-driven resume screening is the most recommended solution from our survey respondents, with the potential to help HR teams manage high application volumes and identify top candidates quickly. Automated background check data collection and data-driven hiring retention strategies) came in at a close second, reflecting the need for tools that enhance the accuracy and efficiency of pre-employment processes and workforce planning.
Which AI-powered hiring solutions are most recommended by hospitality HR leaders?
Barriers to technology adoption
Despite its potential, technology adoption faces several challenges. HR leaders cite budget limitations as the most significant barrier to successful tech implementation. Difficulty customizing solutions to meet specific hiring needs and resistance to new technologies also hinder adoption. These findings emphasize the need for cost-effective, adaptable, and user-friendly technology solutions to drive progress in the industry.
Effectiveness and communication in hospitality HR tech
HR technology is widely viewed as essential, with 44% agreeing and 32% strongly agreeing that current tools are integral to their HR operations. In terms of communication, hospitality HR leaders find email, company websites, and text messaging to be the most effective channels for engaging candidates, while social media and video communication have less impact.
Current tech performance
Existing HR tech solutions largely meet expectations, with 46% of HR leaders rating their tools as sufficient for current needs. However, 35% consider performance marginal, and only 17% find their tools exceptional, indicating room for scalability, usability, and ROI improvement.
How do hospitality HR leaders rate their current tech stack’s performance?
What this means for employers
- Focus on impactful AI-powered tools: Invest in AI-driven resume screening and background check tools to streamline hiring processes and improve candidate quality.
- Overcome barriers to adoption: Address budget limitations and resistance to change by focusing on building a business case for the ROI of new tools and choosing solutions with easy-to-implement customization options.
- Focus on effective communication channels: Prioritize email, websites, and text messaging to connect with candidates. Even better, allow candidates to choose their preferred messaging channel early on in hiring.
- Enhance HR tech performance: Evaluate and upgrade current tools to meet higher expectations for efficiency, scalability, and strategic impact.
Insight 3
Tackling workforce challenges: Compensation, flexibility, and high turnover
The hospitality industry is facing significant workforce challenges, with HR leaders striving to address high turnover rates, attract the right talent, and adapt to fluctuating seasonal hiring demands.
Top pain points in hospitality HR
The most pressing issue for hospitality HR leaders is combatting high turnover rates, a persistent challenge in an industry known for its transient workforce. Sourcing and attracting the right talent follows closely, reflecting the difficulty of finding qualified candidates to meet operational demands. Navigating seasonal hiring needs adds another layer of complexity, emphasizing the need for flexible and scalable hiring strategies.
Strategies for combatting turnover and hiring faster
To combat high turnover rates, hospitality HR leaders prioritize competitive compensation (46%), demonstrating the critical role of fair pay in retaining employees. Flexible work schedules (27%) and transparent communication and feedback channels (13%) also rank as key strategies, addressing employee expectations for work-life balance and workplace engagement.
To speed up the hiring process, HR leaders emphasize upfront communication about compensation and benefits, offering weekly pay periods, and providing clear and concise job descriptions as their top three most recommended solutions to streamline recruitment and improve candidate alignment.
What do hospitality HR leaders believe is the most effective strategy for reducing turnover?
What are top hospitality candidates looking for?
Looking ahead, better career growth opportunities emerges as hospitality HR leaders’ top choice for addressing broad workforce-building challenges, highlighting the importance of clear advancement pathways in attracting and retaining today’s top talent. Leveraging new technologies to retain top talent and implementing wellness and mental health programs round out the top three, reflecting a focus on meeting expectations from multi-generational candidates.
What workforce strategies are hospitality HR leaders prioritizing in 2025?
What this means for employers
- Prioritize competitive compensation: Offering fair and attractive pay is essential for both reducing turnover and attracting the right talent.
- Streamline hiring processes: Improve recruitment speed and efficiency by being transparent about pay and benefits, providing clear job descriptions, and considering innovative pay structures like weekly pay periods.
- Invest in career development and holistic benefits: Focus on career growth opportunities, retention technologies, and wellness programs to build a committed and resilient workforce.
Insight 4
How to stand out to candidates in a crowded job marketplace
Creating a strong candidate and employee experience is often the edge HR leaders in the hospitality industry need to outpace competitors.
Building an effective employee value proposition (EVP)
Hospitality HR leaders rank competitive compensation, work-life balance, and career development opportunities as the top three most important elements of a strong hospitality EVP—with practically equal ranking assigned to each. These values highlight the growing demand for flexible scheduling, supportive work environments, and (unsurprisingly) higher pay rates for workers in every hospitality sector.
What do hospitality HR leaders rank as the most important for building a strong employee value proposition?
Leveraging AI to enhance the employee experience
Discerning candidates may want to know: How is your industry implementing AI solutions effectively to improve employees’ experience at your organization? Hospitality HR leaders believe AI has the potential to have the biggest impact by optimizing scheduling and workforce management, ensuring that staffing aligns with operational needs. Our survey respondents also emphasized using AI tools to identify training needs and analyze and communicate performance metrics, enabling personalized development plans and data-driven feedback systems.
What do hospitality HR leaders believe is the most impactful use of AI technology?
What this means for employers
- Focus on holistic employee values: Keep competitive compensation, work-life balance, and career development top of mind to attract and retain top talent effectively.
- Prioritize candidate experience: A strong emphasis on candidate experience during the hiring process fosters trust, engagement, and long-term employee satisfaction.
- Leverage AI for workforce optimization: Utilize AI to streamline scheduling, identify training opportunities, and improve performance communication—and highlight your most effective employee-focused tech to candidates during the hiring process.
The takeaway
Quality of hire, employee turnover rate, and time to fill open positions top the list of KPIs HR leaders will be using to measure success in 2025. By prioritizing competitive compensation, leveraging AI-enhanced recruitment tools, and focusing on holistic benefits (like flexibility and wellness programs), hospitality HR teams may drive measurable improvements in retention, efficiency, and ROI at their organizations.
People operations leaders are looking to their teams to take the lead in selecting impactful new technology, including AI, that directly enhances the candidate and employee experience. Solutions that include customization options, priority communication channels, and both pre- and post-hire capabilities may be expected to take center stage in hospitality recruiting this year.
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Survey methodology
All data found within this report is derived from a survey by Checkr conducted online via survey platform Pollfish. In total, 1,000 senior HR leaders in the hospitality sector were surveyed. This survey was conducted over a three-week span in November 2024, and all respondents were asked to answer all questions as truthfully as possible and to the best of their knowledge and abilities.
Disclaimer
The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.
