Survey found that 60% of retail and hospitality workers are concerned about their job security

DUBLIN: Workers in the retail and hospitality sectors, which have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 restrictions, are deeply concerned about their jobs.

According to new research by e-recruitment platform, Jobs.ie, almost 60% of workers in the retail and hospitality industries say they are concerned about the safety of their work in the coming weeks and months.

Almost 39% of retail workers and 54% of workers in hospitality sector said that they could not be certain of future job security. Almost 27% do not believe that there will be enough opportunities to advance their careers in the retail industry. Meanwhile only 17% of hospitality workers said they were concerned about opportunities to advance their careers. A total of 21% said they will not earn enough to live if they stay working in the hospitality sector.

Almost all retail and hospitality workers surveyed commented that the COVID-19 pandemic had made them rethink their future career in the industry.

The survey found that 68% of retail workers and 61% of hospitality workers were able to stay in business due to changes in the guidelines during the summer.

Nine out of ten workers were able to return to work in hospitality and retail. They say that their employer has taken all appropriate measures to protect their health and safety at work.

At the same time, 19% of retail workers and 9% of hospitality workers said that they are unable to return to work due to concerns for their personal health, or the health of a family member and the potential of possible exposure to COVID-19.

Of those who have returned to work, 34% in hospitality and 22% in retail have been asked to work shorter hours than they usually would. Only a smaller percentage of workers in both industries were asked to work more hours than they would usually have worked. At the same time the majority of workers say that they are happy to facilitate this change.

Based on the survey findings, Christopher Paye, General Manager at Jobs.ie said that retail and hospitality are two of the most impacted sectors of the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “For many businesses, the last eight months have been some of the most trying times that they have ever experienced.”

“For workers in these sectors, the concern around the future is clearly evident, and only exacerbated by the uncertainty surrounding the direction of the pandemic and its impact on the reopening of hotels, cafés, restaurants and pubs and bricks and mortar retail,” he added.