Most hotel owners, for example, will be able to tell you of employees who have said to them that "this is only temporary until I find a real job". This is not an issue that is going away – the hospitality industry is expected to continue growing over the next 6 years, with increases in the number of people required for many roles.

For example:

·        29% increase in first-line supervisors

·        23% increase in food preparation workers

·        29% increase in gaming dealers

 The scale of the hospitality industry should not be underestimated either. The restaurant trade alone employs approximately 9% of all employed workers in the United States – around 12 million people! In 2005, restaurant sales totaled $1.2 trillion. The hotel industry employs around 1.8 million people and the travel industry a further 6.3 million people, generating revenues of $1.3 trillion last year. These industries are extremely large and their health, or otherwise, has a significant impact on the nation's economy.

For many of the larger companies involved in the hospitality industry, the solution to recruitment problems is to extend their traditional recruitment areas, and make direct approaches to suitable target groups. Large corporations such as Disney, for example, have taken to staging recruitment events abroad, in countries like Puerto Rico, and offering workers free air tickets and relocation payments on condition that they work for a complete year. Similar tactics have been employed by some hotel companies to lure out-of-state and immigrant workers to their businesses. 

Given this context, it's easy to understand how staffing agencies play an important role in recruiting staff for hospitality companies. Hotel staff, restaurant staff, casino staff – agencies who can supply suitable candidates at short notice are essential to keep business running smoothly and cater for seasonal fluctuations, expansion, or staff shortages.

Due to the customer-facing nature of so many hospitality jobs, most hospitality recruiters accept that a candidate's personal qualities, especially their people skills, are at least as important as their relevant work experience. It's recognized that vocational skills are much easier to teach than the qualities which go into good customer service. 

It's then down to the employers themselves to sell their vacant positions, and hopefully to learn how to retain the employees, a huge challenge in such a high turnover industry.