MEMPHIS, Tennessee – Customers are back but workers aren’t, causing problems for the Memphis tourism industry.
As people flock to restaurants and hotels again, many find that there aren’t enough staff to meet their needs. The unemployment rate in Tennessee has dropped to five percent. There are simply more jobs than workers to fill.
Restaurants and hotels laid off many workers in the past year, and many of those workers found new jobs in independent companies. The staff shortage not only harms customers, it also causes some companies to lose money.
“One of the biggest challenges facing the tourism and hospitality industry, not just here in Memphis but across the country, is rebuilding the workforce,” said Kevin Kern, Memphis Tourism. “Right now, some hotels even have to take rooms out of inventory that they could sell because they just don’t have the staff to maintain those rooms and people check in and do all that.”
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Memphis Tourism recently hosted a hospitality job fair, but few job seekers attended.
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