AHLA Reports 87% of Surveyed Hotels Report Staffing Shortages

Nearly all hotels are experiencing staffing shortages, according to a new member survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of survey respondents indicated they are experiencing a staffing shortage, 36% severely so. The most critical staffing need is housekeeping, with 43% ranking it as their biggest challenge.

Those numbers are slightly better than in May, when 97% of respondents to an AHLA member survey said they were short staffed, 49% severely so, with 58% ranking housekeeping as their biggest challenge.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of August, hotel employment was down by nearly 400,000 jobs compared to February 2020. Hotels are looking to fill many of the jobs lost during the pandemic, including more than 115,000 hotel jobs currently open across the nation.

STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 1 October

As expected with the Rosh Hashanah holiday, U.S. hotel performance dropped from the previous week and showed mixed comparisons with 2019, according to STR‘s latest data through 1 October.

• Among the Top 25 Markets, Phoenix reported the highest occupancy increase over 2019 (+7.5% to 69.7%).
• San Diego reported the largest ADR gain over 2019 (+29.8% to US$203.71).
• San Francisco was the only market to post an ADR drop (-2.8% to US$234.73).
• The steepest RevPAR declines were in San Francisco (-14.1% to US$176.63) and Minneapolis (-10.0% to US$79.76).

25 September - 1 October 2022 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019):

• Occupancy: 66.4% (-2.4%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$149.71 (+15.7%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$99.36 (+12.9%)