Hotels having trouble hiring workers: Low jobless rate here (San Antonio) cuts into workforce

One thing I mention when I talk about labor markets is how workers will leave one occupation if the wage rises for another, implying cross industry competition for workers.

This article was by Madison Iszler of The Express-News. I don't see it online anywhere right now. You might need an email subscription to read it. If a link becomes available, I will add it.


Excerpts:

"With San Antonio’s unemployment rate hitting historic lows, hoteliers in the city’s $15.2 billion tourism industry are struggling to find housekeepers, dishwashers and waiters.

It’s never been easy recruiting for jobs that involve hard work and low pay, but the crunch is reaching new levels of pain.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I think it’s the worst we’ve ever seen it,” said Avinash Bhakta, president of ABH Hospitality Management, a local firm that manages several Candle-wood Suites, Staybridge Suites and other hotels. “There are plenty of positions that are open — there aren’t enough workers.

“It’s hard to get people.”

To attract the entry-level workers they need, companies are forced to raise wages and change hiring practices. ABH, for example, is bringing on more part-time workers and relying on temp agencies for help with staffing — a departure from years past.

Hotel housekeepers, Bhakta noted, have seen their wages jump by $3 to $4 an hour locally over the past few years. ABH also provides insurance and health benefits for full-time employees.

Low-level positions typically pay $10 to $14 an hour, depending on the hotel’s location, Bhakta said.

In a humming economy, hotel operators aren’t just competing with each other, said Ed McClure, CEO of Boerne-based Phoenix Hospitality Group, which recently opened the Bevy hotel in Boerne. They’re also up against construction firms, retail stores and health care organizations hungry for the same entry-level workers."

"The national unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in June — still higher than Texas’ 3.4 percent and San Antonio’s 3 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas."

"While hotels are paying more to lure workers, compensation in the industry had been gradually climbing for years.

The average weekly wage for employees at San Antonio-area hotels and motels was $553 in the fourth quarter of 2018, up from $477 in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it’s still far below $932, the average among all local private-sector employers during the same period."

"The median hourly wage was $10.44 for hotel desk clerks and $10.12 for maids in the area as of last May, according to BLS data. It rose to $10.55 for cashiers and $11.62 for retail salespeople."

"But attracting workers doesn’t come down to offering higher pay alone. Employees care about a company’s culture, said Tom Cannon, a professor of marketing, tourism and law at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Businesses also have to provide more incentives, such as tuition reimbursement, to attract and retain staff.

“Any employer, especially in the hospitality industry, needs to be thinking about their employees as investments in the future of their business,” Cannon said.

Along with high turnover, hotels are grappling with applicants who seem to drop off the map. Bhakta said job seekers who make it past the interviews and receive job offers frequently never show up for work."