UK worker shortages: accommodation and food service
UK worker shortages: accommodation and food service stood at 11.8% in Aug 2026, according to ONS — Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS). It is one of the indicators in the Workforce pressures (BICS) table (Value · Monthly), with a complete series running from Oct 2021 to Aug 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Workforce pressures (BICS) table
| Indicator | 08-2026 | 07-2026 | 06-2026 | 05-2026 | 04-2026 | 03-2026 | 02-2026 | 01-2026 | 12-2025 | 11-2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Experiencing a shortage of workers | |||||||||||
| Accommodation & food service | 11.8 | 17.5 | 15.2 | 16 | 14 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 15.8 | 13.7 | 13.4 | |
| Information & communication | 2.2 | 5 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 1.4 |
Understanding UK worker shortages: accommodation and food service
Hotels, restaurants, pubs, catering enterprises, and leisure facilities across the United Kingdom record whether they operate with fewer staff than required to service patrons. This metric isolates customer-facing hospitality businesses where service capacity depends heavily on front-of-house teams, kitchen staff, and cleaning crews. Unlike capital-intensive industrial sectors, this segment experiences rapid shifts in workforce requirements driven by tourism cycles, university terms, and event calendars.
Analysts should read these results with close attention to tourism seasonality, which creates predictable troughs and surges in recruitment pressures independent of broader macroeconomic shifts. Comparing fortnightly results reveals immediate operational strain during peak holiday periods, whereas annual averages obscure these sharp fluctuations. A common misstep is comparing hospitality staffing difficulties directly with corporate office metrics, given the high prevalence of part-time and seasonal contracts in this industry.
Frequently asked questions
- Which types of businesses form this hospitality grouping?
- Hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafes, and catering contractors report their workforce status here.
- Are seasonal workers counted in this survey?
- Yes, any enterprise struggling to fill seasonal hospitality posts will reflect that deficit in their response.
- How does hospitality differ from arts and recreation?
- Hospitality focuses on food, drink, and accommodation, whereas arts and recreation covers entertainment and sports venues.