Jobs advertised by hospitality businesses on NIJobs are front and centre in a major campaign that aims to attract new talent and boost recruitment across the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland.
As Covid restrictions fall away, recruitment has become a key focus for employers in hospitality and tourism. To confront this challenge, the employer-led network, the Hospitality & Tourism Skills network (HATS), has partnered with Tourism NI to spearhead a multi-channel advertising campaign to promote the breadth of exciting career opportunities the industry can offer jobseekers.
Running until the end of March 2022, the campaign features a series of quirky, eye-catching job descriptions across billboards, outdoor advertising and social media to attract attention and highlight the dynamic and fast-paced roles available.
NIJobs is providing a live feed of hospitality jobs to the campaign website, CareerScope ensuring that audiences have access to the very latest opportunities across Northern Ireland.
Showcasing jobs and employers
Sam McIlveen, General Manager of NIJobs says he and his team are delighted to play a part in promoting the careers available within the sector.
He says: “Northern Ireland’s popularity as a tourism destination is well established. This campaign shines a light on the many career opportunities available within the hospitality industry. We are delighted to showcase the jobs of the sector’s leading employers who advertise with NIJobs, including the Hastings Hotels Group, The Titanic Hotel, and the Dalata Group, to name just a few. Attracting, recruiting and retaining skilled workers is essential to ensuring we grow the success of this job-rich industry.”
Incredible opportunities
Roisin McKee, Director of HATS, said the campaign seeks to encourage people to join an industry looking to come back bigger and better than ever.
She explained: “There are incredible opportunities for people to join hospitality and tourism and experience rewarding careers at all skill levels, and this campaign is designed to help us get that message out.
“Working with industry and partners, we want to help combat the staffing challenges and support the recovery of the industry by challenging perceptions and promoting the exciting and diverse opportunities on offer right now, helping to support recruitment and drive retention.
Many employers are working harder than ever to attract and retain talent by making fundamental changes to offer a better quality job experience, so jobseekers can expect to be well looked after.”
Positive career choice
Tourism NI Director of Strategic Development David Roberts said: “Recruiting into the hospitality and tourism sector has been challenging for a number of years due to the speed at which the industry has grown, tackling this alongside reducing staff turnover, are both clear priorities for the sector.
“We are delighted to be working with the Hospitality & Tourism Skills Network to deliver this awareness campaign which will boost the message that the sector is a positive career choice. Attracting and building a skilled and sustainable workforce is key to ensuring that tourism can recover and return to the levels of success achieved in the years up to 2019.”
The campaign will be addressing three key priorities for the sector which are to attract, retain and engage employees and jobseekers as part of a wider Tourism Recovery Action Plan and the NI Skills Strategy.
The HATS network, set up in December 2019, brings together a diverse mix of employers from across the hospitality and tourism sector alongside industry associations and key delivery partners from government and education to collectively address issues around sector image, attractiveness and skills development into and within the sector.
The HATS network project is supported by Invest Northern Ireland under its Collaborative Growth Programme.