‘Devastating’ - Figures show hospitality sector hit hardest by job losses
The hospitality sector is the hardest hit in terms of recent job losses, latest employment figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
Data from the three months up to the end of June 2025 show UK job vacancies have fallen to a 10-year low, with 727,000 compared to 738,000 over the previous period.
Specifically in hospitality, there were an estimated 79,000 UK vacancies between April and June, with 13,000 job losses a month, which equates to 45 per cent of all job losses.
The chair of UKHospitality, Kate Nicholls, said: “These devastating job losses are a direct consequence of policy decisions at last year’s budget (in October), which have disproportionately hit the hospitality sector.
“The change to employer NICs, in particular, was socially regressive and had a disproportionate impact on entry-level jobs.
“Without a change of tack from the government, we could be looking at even more job losses in hospitality, when we should be bringing people into the jobs market.”
She added: “We desperately need to see action at the upcoming budget.
“We urge the government to act on our asks to fix NICs, by extending the existing exemptions to include both young people and people moving from welfare to work, which will boost jobs and help to reverse this huge loss.
“We also need to see lower business rates to revive high streets, and a VAT cut on hospitality to drive investment.”
Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, added: “(These) disturbing figures add to a weight of evidence that if you make it more expensive and riskier to give someone a job, the result will be fewer jobs.
“More people are already being locked out of opportunities, the benefits bill will rise even further, and the growth and prosperity we so desperately need will become more out of reach.
“Ramping up jobs taxes, pushing through 28 new bits of employment legislation, and then on top of that mooting a hike in employer pension costs, is not a recipe for job-creation and economic growth.
“Ministers should start basing policy-making on real-world evidence, rather than being swayed by well-intentioned, but misguided, wishful-thinkers.”
Speaking to The Guardian, pub owner Philip Thorley, who employs around 400 staff, said: “From a financial point of view, last year’s budget was worse for hospitality than Covid.”
The stats also showed London has the highest unemployment rate in Britain, with 6.2% of its workforce out of work.
A big part of this has been attributed to the loss of hospitality jobs, following the rise in employer National Insurance Contributions, that came into force in April.
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