Millions of workers in the troubled hospitality industry are job seeking, according to latest data from Caterer.com.
The site, the UK’s largest hospitality job board, revealed on Tuesday that it has received more than 2.1 million applications since March.
Company director, Neil Pattison, said he expects that figure to soar to 4 million by end of the year as the latest Covid-19 restrictions take a further toll.
As Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions came into force across large swathes of the country, industry trade body UKHospitality warned that as many as 750,000 jobs could go in the sector alone by early next year without further Government support.
Caterer.com launched a Hospitality Redeployment Hub in March as lockdown was implemented.
The hub offers hospitality staff a route to find alternative employment in other sectors if they are unable to find a job in the industry, which has seen mass layoffs in recent months.
Launched in partnership with UKHospitality and Hospitality Action, the site has listed 160,000 jobs since March and placed former hospitality workers in roles at companies including Lidl, Superdrug, Amazon, Hermes and Co-op.
The site reported more than 1.3 million visits in September, up from 544,000 in May, as the Government’s furlough scheme began winding down.
Pattison said: “Each week we’re seeing a significant increase in visitors and fresh applicants to our site. We expect these numbers to steadily climb as further lockdowns are applied in regions across the UK as part of the Government’s three-tiered system.
"Whilst more than 2.1 million applications have been submitted so far, as restrictions tighten and furlough comes to an end it’s likely applications could exceed 4 million by Christmas."
