UKHospitality has reacted with considerable alarm at the news that net EU migration has fallen to 100,000.
UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: “Yesterday’s figures are an alarming portent of possible disaster for the hospitality sector. Although net migration from the EU still stands at 100,000, this represents a significant fall on the previous year. Particularly distressful is news that this squeeze is being felt most acutely in lower-skilled labour which makes up the bulk of the workforce.
“The hospitality labour pool is shrinking and around a quarter of employers in the sector already say they are struggling to fill vacancies. The hospitality sector relies heavily on EU migrants to fill many of its vacancies and should this trend continue, businesses are likely to struggle to keep up with projected growth.”