Hospitality Doesn’t Have a Staffing Problem. It Has a Culture Problem
Why the Industry Is Losing Good People and How We Can Fix It
For years, hospitality has repeated the same line: “We can’t find good staff.” But the truth is far less convenient and far more important: hospitality doesn’t have a staffing problem it has a culture problem.
People aren’t leaving hospitality because they lack commitment or work ethic. Many of them love the industry. They love the energy, the creativity, the teamwork, the sense of service. They leave because the environments they work in make it impossible to stay. What’s happening now at major hospitality groups with allegations surfacing around safety, misconduct, underpayment and leadership failures has not surprised anyone who has worked in the industry long enough. If anything, it has simply exposed what workers have been navigating quietly for years. These high-profile stories didn’t create a culture crisis; they only illuminated one that already existed.
The issue isn’t headcount.
The issue is how people are being treated.
Where Culture Breaks Down
The cracks in hospitality culture become visible long before anyone resigns. You see it in the way staff hesitate to speak up. In the tension during pre-service meetings. In the way management snaps under pressure. In the exhausted faces of teams who show up, work hard and still feel invisible.
One of the biggest breakpoints is leadership. Most managers were promoted because they were fast, reliable, or long-serving not because they were trained to lead people. And so we see the same cycle repeat:
Managers who talk down to staff instead of communicating with respect.
Managers who blame instead of coaching.
Managers who explode under pressure instead of staying calm.
Managers with no emotional intelligence, who unintentionally create fear instead of confidence.
Most of this behaviour isn’t malicious it’s untrained. But the impact is the same: good staff walk away.
Culture also breaks when pay isn’t handled with integrity. Incorrect overtime, withheld penalty rates, unpaid training, casual misclassification, “salaries” masking 60-hour weeks, cash below award these practices have been normalised for decades. But they tell staff one thing very clearly: your time isn’t valued. And then we wonder why people leave.
The Turning Point
The recent investigations around venues owned by Merivale and Swillhouse didn’t create a crisis they revealed one. Stories of unsafe environments, misconduct, and leadership inaction aren’t shocking to hospitality workers; they are familiar. What is new is the industry's willingness to finally talk about it. These moments are uncomfortable, but they are necessary. They force us to confront the fact that hospitality has been operating with outdated norms, blurred boundaries and a “just deal with it” mindset for far too long. Hospitality cannot keep functioning as though stress, dysfunction and poor behaviour are simply “part of the industry.” They’re not. They’re part of a culture problem and culture can be changed.
What Good Culture Actually Looks Like
Fixing hospitality culture isn’t about staff meals, pizza nights or token gestures. Culture is built from what happens behind the scenes, not in front of guests. Venues with strong culture operate from a foundation of professionalism, fairness and emotional intelligence. Staff know they will be supported, not belittled. They know their safety matters. They know their time will be paid correctly. They know management will lead by example, not by intimidation.
And most importantly, they know they can have a future in hospitality not just a job. Changing culture starts with leadership. When managers are trained to communicate clearly, give constructive feedback, regulate their emotions, and hold space for their teams, everything shifts. Teams stop working in fear and start working with pride. Instead of just surviving a shift, they excel in it. From there, everything becomes easier: service, retention, team morale, guest experience, revenue.
Culture is the engine that drives the entire operation.
How the Industry Can Move Forward
If hospitality wants stability, it must evolve. And that evolution begins with honest self-assessment:
Are we creating environments people want to stay in or ones they’re trying to escape?
Every venue, from small bars to national groups, can begin the shift with simple but powerful changes:
Pay people correctly every shift, every award, every hour.
Train leaders, not just staff.
Create reporting pathways that staff can trust.
Set behavioural standards for managers and guests.
Communicate clearly, especially during pressure.
Prioritise emotional intelligence as a core management skill.
Build structure, because consistency creates safety.
These changes don’t just fix culture. They transform venues into places where people thrive.
The Future Depends on Culture
Hospitality will keep losing good people until it learns one fundamental truth: Staff don’t leave the industry. They leave environments that make them feel unsafe, undervalued or disrespected. Venues that invest in their culture in leadership, communication, fairness and safety — will be the ones that attract the best talent and keep it. They’ll be the venues people want to work in. They’ll be the venues guests feel the difference in, even if they can’t describe it. Because when the culture is right, everything is right. The question is no longer:
“Where do we find good staff?”
The real question is:
“How do we become the kind of workplace good staff want to stay in?”
Disclaimer:
This article is a commentary on industry culture and does not assume or assert the outcome of any ongoing investigations involving hospitality groups.
