Laid-Off Hospitality Workers Must Capitalize on Service Skills

Corporate travel plans often get cancelled quickly during recessions. Without a boost from company expense accounts, many full-service restaurants have cut back on operating hours or closed altogether. Budget woes tend to follow Americans home from work, too. Stay-cation entered the nation's vocabulary this year as more families opted to spend vacation cash on essentials. Hotels and resorts that could usually replace business travelers with bargain seekers expect overall revenues to decline by more than seven percent over the next twelve months.

With analysts predicting one of the worst years for the hospitality industry since the 1930s, some professionals consider this the right time to make the move into another line of work. Fortunately, many hospitality workers can combine their existing skills and their penchant for flexibility to find new jobs. With additional career training, hospitality workers can either make transitions to other fields or earn more stable jobs within their current professions.

Common Skills of Hospitality Professionals

• Customer service
• Multi-tasking skills
• Clear communication
• Marketing and promotion

Escaping Cutbacks by Looking Beyond Traditional Hospitality Careers

As the nation's economy improves, business consultants expect to see many kinds of companies adopt the service orientation of the hospitality industry. Taking a service approach to business allows banks, retailers, and even hospitals to differentiate themselves from competitors. With the right credentials and career experience, professionals can combine their training and experience to make career transitions during this unusual economic period.

According to government statistics, service workers often need the most specialized career training to successfully shift careers. Despite learning how to serve guests and handle complex systems on the job, many hospitality employees lack advanced degrees required to earn positions in other industries. Fortunately, financial aid providers and state employment agencies can help many workers gain access to career training through scholarships, grants, and placement assistance programs.

Prospective Careers for Transitioning Hospitality Professionals

• Healthcare
• Administrative Support
• Customer Service

Flexible Career Training Options Set the Stage for Long-Term Transitions

Online career training programs provide some of the most accessible professional education options for hospitality workers, especially for those who already work unusual schedules. Many colleges and universities allow online course participants to interact with lecturers and with other students through a combination of bulletin boards, chat rooms, and downloadable recordings. A restaurant worker, for example, might listen to a downloaded lecture during a post-shift cleanup, and then login from a nearby coffeehouse to participate in related discussions.

Service professionals eager to speed up training can also enroll in condensed certificate programs that focus on basic skills. After earning a job in a new field, students can often apply credits from certificate or associate's degree programs toward more formalized bachelor's degrees. In some cases, hospitality professionals who spend some time away from the industry to build skills can return to hotels or restaurants as management or administration staff, ready to use their unique experience to lead during the next boom time.

Sources:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Food Services and Drinking Places
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hotels and Other Accommodations
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tomorrow's Jobs
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Recession settles in with hotel industry; good deals easier to find, by Michelle Jarboe
CNN, Mounting job losses hit hotel and gambling sectors
Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Hotel Industry Downturn Predicted for 2009
CoStar Group, Hotels Brace for One of the Worst Declines Since 1930s
Honolulu Star Bulletin, Deals arise as occupancy drops
Hospitality Net, US: Smith Travel research releases 2008, 2009, 2010 projections
Tallahassee Democrat, Job training and flexibility are critical