The hospitality industry is facing a recruitment crisis. That’s a fact. But let’s be honest: it’s far from being the only sector. Many industries are dealing with the same challenges.
And yet, the narrative is always the same: “Young people don’t want to work anymore”,“The job is no longer attractive.”
There is probably some truth to that.
But while some industries are reinventing themselves, modernizing, adapting…
maybe it’s time for hospitality to do the same. And above all, to face reality.
A very real disengagement
In recent years, one thing has become impossible to ignore: professionals are leaving the industry. Not just newcomers, but also those who have dedicated years of their lives to it.
I see it very clearly around me. The vast majority of people I know are now changing career paths.
Not because they lack passion. Not because they failed. But because they no longer find what they’re looking for in this field and feel the need for change.
The reasons are often the same:
- Irregular working hours that are hard to sustain over time
- No weekends, while the rest of the world lives on a different schedule
- A constant, intense pace with no real mental breaks
- Ongoing pressure related to mistakes: here, every detail matters, every oversight can directly impact the guest experience
And above all… a gradual disconnection from their loved ones. Important moments are missed, social habits disappear, and over time, the balance breaks down.
A level of pressure that doesn’t forgive
Hospitality is a profession of excellence. But it is also a profession of constant pressure.
What strikes me today is the contrast with other industries.
In many jobs, mistakes are tolerated, minimized, and very often not truly owned. When you come from hospitality, that’s surprising, because in our world, mistakes are immediate, visible, and often judged.
A bad check-in, an imperfect room, a poorly communicated piece of information…
and the entire guest experience can fall apart.
This constant responsibility shapes professionals who are demanding, rigorous, and deeply committed.
But it also wears them down, especially when it’s not supported by proper working conditions and not recognized for what it’s truly worth.
And yet… I love this profession
And this is where it becomes interesting.
Because despite all of this, I love this profession. I worked in it for more than 15 years, and it gave me so much.
What I loved was the seasonal rhythm, the opportunity to regularly change environment, colleagues, and ways of working. Nothing is fixed. Every new experience in a new property comes with its own rules and constraints, and learning how to navigate those new rules is exactly what I enjoyed.
I was never bored. I was constantly learning, adapting, challenging myself, improving.
And above all, I met an incredible number of people, some of whom have become close friends today.
There is a human richness in hospitality that you simply don’t find elsewhere, an intensity, an energy, a real life that shapes who you are even outside of work.
So, what is the real problem?
Maybe the problem is not the profession itself. But the way it is experienced today.
A passion-driven profession can hardly last if it exhausts you to the point where you can no longer enjoy your free time, if it isolates you from family and friends or prevents you from living important moments, and if it demands, imposes, and holds you accountable without any real return.
I don’t believe the new generation refuses to work. They simply refuse to put work before their personal lives. They work to live, not the other way around. They are willing to learn, to make mistakes, but not to carry a level of responsibility that becomes too heavy to bear on a daily basis.
As for the professionals who change careers, they often reach a clear conclusion: after so many years in this industry, they believe it is unlikely to change. So they choose to move on, knowing they wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from getting fully involved again… and falling back into the same patterns.
Rethinking hospitality without losing its essence
The goal is not to turn hospitality into a “normal” job. That would mean losing what makes it unique.
Instead, it’s about finding a balance between expectations and working conditions, between excellence and well-being, between performance and humanity.
Because without that balance, professionals will keep leaving, and newcomers won’t stay.
A necessary evolution
You might ask me: if I love this profession so much, why did I leave it? Simply because I believe it can evolve.
I’m convinced it’s possible to preserve what makes it strong, its standards, its intensity, its human richness, while improving the way people work within it on a daily basis.
Because some solutions already exist, or are emerging. Tools, for example, that help structure communication, improve information sharing between teams, and therefore reduce mistakes… and the stress that comes with them.
Approaches that don’t change the profession itself, but can deeply transform the way it is experienced.
This is the direction that led me to start working on solutions like My Sharing System.
Conclusion
Hospitality is not a profession in crisis. It is a profession in transition.
And maybe the real question is not: “Why does no one want to work in hospitality anymore?”
But rather: “How can we make people want to stay?”
Mathieu Tougeron
Sales Representative of My sharing System