The coming worker shortage in the U.S. hotel industry

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the broad leisure and hospitality industry will need to find an additional 1.3 million workers between 2010 to 2020…the BLS said the number of maids and housekeepers jobs will increase 111,600 by 2020, a jump of 7.8%, and the number of people employed as front-desk clerks will rise 11.1%. That’s a lot of new employees to find and few reliable places to find them.

Even though the U.S. Congress seems to be close to consensus on reforming immigration laws, there’s no guarantee legislation will be enacted during this session or how it will affect the ability of hotel operators to find and keep good workers.