Major Challenges for the Hospitality Sector Labor Market: A New Way of Thinking and Acting Is Essential

he Hospitality Pact is a collaboration between employer organisations KHN, ANVR, HISWA-RECRON, CLC-VECTA, and Veneca, educational institutions from VMBO, MBO and HBO, and the Centre of Expertise Leisure Tourism & Hospitality (CELTH), and employee organisation De Horecabond. The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The partners in the Hospitality Pact strive for a future-proof labour market in the hospitality sector. They want to achieve this by demonstrating that hospitality can offer great value to the Netherlands, is a versatile field with career opportunities, and by ensuring a sufficient influx of qualified and yet-to-be-qualified talent into the labour market and training programmes.

Pieter Vissers – Heineken: Working in the hospitality sector is the best thing there is

Pieter Vissers, Director of Hospitality at Heineken Netherlands and host of the meeting, opened the day with an enthusiastic plea for the hospitality industry. He emphasised that working in this sector is ‘the best thing there is’ and that it is crucial to maintain its appeal for future generations. However, companies cannot do this alone, but ‘especially together’ . For Vissers, working in the hospitality industry is much more than just ‘carrying a tray’; it is an unforgettable experience: ‘There is no experience like bar experience’. According to Vissers, it is essential for the sector to find and retain sufficient employees. He called for support for the Hospitality Pact and, in particular, for contributions to the joint Discover Hospitality campaign.

Erwin van der Graaf – Hospitality Pact: Action-oriented implementation of the vision

Erwin van der Graaf, chairman of the Hospitality Pact and director of Accor Netherlands, provided more context for the pact and the “Discover Hospitality” campaign in his presentation. The Hospitality Pact originated from “Perspective 2030”. One of the five pillars for a successful destination in the Netherlands is a hospitable industry. In 2024, a lot happened around the Hospitality Pact: “There was collaboration with the 'Be My Guest” campaign, partner events were organised, an annual plan for 2025 was drawn up, and a proposal for governance, financing and staffing was submitted. The website www.hospitalitypact.nl was also launched. In addition, the importance of the existing Hospitality Sector Labour Market Monitor was highlighted for providing continuous insight into labour market challenges.‘ The most notable change was the renaming of the ’Be My Guest‘ campaign to ’Discover Hospitality". This was necessary in order to broaden it into a general hospitality campaign.

Over the past year and a half, the parties that signed the ambitious vision document of the Hospitality Pact have mainly worked on its operational implementation. The Pact is primarily action-oriented, with an organisation structured around four working groups that are in charge of a specific theme. The Education Policy working group develops sectoral development paths that indicate how employees can further develop within the hospitality sector. The Social Policy working group identifies the differences and similarities between branches in the hospitality sector. Based on this analysis, it is then possible to investigate whether and where cooperation is possible, without immediately striving for uniform agreements. The Labour Market Branding working group is committed to increasing the visibility and attractiveness of the hospitality sector. To this end, cooperation with the “Discover Hospitality” platform is being strengthened. The Research & Innovation working group, led by Anke Arts and Lobke Elbers of CELTH, focuses on translating data and research into concrete insights and practical applications within the hospitality sector. To this end, the Hospitality Sector Labour Market Monitor is being updated and further developed. There will also be a pilot for a Labour Quality Monitor, which will investigate how themes such as work experience, employership and changing skills can be mapped out to support future-oriented HR and labour market policy.

Annemieke Roobeek – Nyenrode: Radical change is necessary

Annemieke Roobeek, Professor of Strategy and Transformation Management at Nyenrode, offered an external perspective on the sector. As a ‘user of the hospitality industry and a traveller,’ she observed that although the sector is ‘extremely busy,’ ‘very little is happening’ in terms of radical change. She called for people to step out of their silos and forge new connections with other parties. Roobeek criticised the focus on ‘short-term profit’ and the ‘financially driven industry’. She argued for ‘taking the entire hospitality industry to a higher level’, which requires ‘radical change’ and the establishment of ‘new connections’, given that the hospitality sector is part of a ‘huge ecosystem’.
According to Roobeek, technology, and AI in particular, are becoming increasingly important and AI can ‘make a difference’ in the hospitality sector. This is important because the most important characteristic of the HP sector, giving ‘genuine attention’, is under pressure. This personal attention is becoming increasingly important in an increasingly online world. It must be surprising, with ‘refined luxury, not glitter’. The focus must shift from ‘me’ to ‘us in the sector’.
In Roobeek's view, consumers are becoming increasingly aware and expect sustainable options. ‘Green is the new gold’, and social impact is a given, which sometimes conflicts with the focus on profit. It's about CO2 emissions, diversity, inclusion and ethical choices. According to Roobeek, there are ‘amazing opportunities for high-quality and surprising hospitality moments’ when connections are made and people work ‘together above all’. Culture and hospitality go well together, with examples such as studio visits, combining art and culture with culinary experiences, and collaborations between museums and restaurants. She cited great examples such as Royal Delft and the Maaltuin, Museum More with Gusto and the Rijksmuseum with Restaurant Rijks.

In Roobeek's view, creating unique and personal experiences is essential. Instead of a week-long water sports holiday, people may opt for ‘2.5 hours on the water’. Niche markets, such as ‘mini excursions’, offer a lot of potential. For this, you don't have to go to Bali, but you can also walk to the Veluwe or part of the Pieterpad. The focus should be on ‘small and high quality’. The concept of “Bleisure”, where people stay in one place for longer and work in a hybrid way, is on the rise. This calls for “high-tech places with a personal touch”. Hotels, which are often perceived as “boring”, can play a role in this by developing “very attractive concepts” for meetings and activities. Active involvement of the local population and businesses is important here.
Roobeek in

troduced the concept of “Nearby Discoveries”: how can you do something special in a few hours? It's about offering the unexpected and collecting “quality moments of happiness”. The role of employees is shifting from simply “people walking around with trays” to “employees who are guides for those nearby discoveries”. It is not about “jobs but roles”. In Roobeek's view, the hospitality sector must remain a job engine, but also pay attention to retaining people and lateral entrants.

Stef Driessen – ABN AMRO: Seasons stacking up

Stef Driessen from ABN Amro presented figures and trends in the hospitality labour market and placed them in a broader perspective. ABN AMRO sees that the Dutch economy is growing faster than the European economy, which means that the labour market will remain tight. In addition, there is a large replacement demand due to ageing, with 1.5 million upcoming vacancies. Driessen also saw potential in the grey wave: ‘In 2030, the Netherlands will have more than 2 million people aged 65-75, of whom only 17% are currently still working. Tax incentives can stimulate this growth, which is a ’promising" focus. This is important because hospitality workers will also be ‘highly sought after’ by other sectors. The most important thing for employees in the hospitality sector is influence over their own working hours, i.e. flexibility. ‘It is paradoxical that the government is committed to more permanent contracts, while employees actually want more flexibility.’ Driessen is a big fan of the Hospitality Sector Labour Market Monitor. ‘This monitor offers the opportunity to benchmark with other industries.’ For example, the monitor shows that the travel industry pays more than the average in the Netherlands and that employees are also more satisfied. This should give other branches in the hospitality sector food for thought in this tight labour market. Driessen advised ‘stacking seasons and building scale’ so that employees have enough work throughout the year, with Libéma and Van Hoorne as good examples. There are good initiatives such as Postillion, where student debt is repaid for each hour worked (‘Destroy Your Study Debt’). Driessen also suggested gathering the best ideas for the hospitality sector annually in a ‘Dragons' Den-like setting.’

Jan Lokker – Zadkine: Without vocational education, the Netherlands would come to a standstill

Jan Lokker, Member of the Executive Board of Zadkine, gave a broad overview of vocational education, which he described as ‘the foundation of society’. Without vocational education, ‘the Netherlands would come to a standstill’. Although recognition of vocational education is growing, it could be even greater. Lokker asked the rhetorical question of why everyone has to move on to higher professional education or university, when there are ‘really nice jobs’ at the vocational education level. For Lokker, the strong regional ties and alignment with regional labour market needs are the strengths of vocational education. The 460,000 MBO students are ‘all gems’, but some need extra guidance to hold their own in this complex society. They receive this guidance at school, but according to Lokker, cutting back on the subsidies that fund this is ‘a very wrong development’. Lokker sees many challenges for vocational education and its students, such as declining enrolment and a tight labour market, which causes many students to leave school early to work. As a solution to this and to encourage lifelong learning, vocational schools want to make programmes more modular and flexible so that students can always take a course. ‘The challenge is to get this target group to finish school while still being able to work.’ Lokker is seeing more and more hybrid professionals in the programmes. ‘Students really enjoy hearing about how things work in practice.’ Unfortunately, funding is under pressure and is provided retrospectively: a student who enrols now will only be reimbursed in two years' time. Lokker called for vocational education to be seen as a ‘strategic partner’, to collaborate on innovative education and to invest in high-quality internships.

Teun Verheij - Discover Hospitality

For Teun Verheij, leader of the Discover Hospitality campaign, the challenge for his team lies in developing a campaign for a broad target group, ranging from ‘chip shops, hotels and campsites to travel companies’. The platform therefore has ‘many different faces and places’, with the starting point being to showcase the ‘world of hospitality’ by inspiring and engaging people. The aim is to facilitate information, training, job vacancies and employers. It is not a job board, but it does show ‘what there is to do in the sector’. Specific target groups are: 15-16-year-olds (choice of education), 18-year-olds and older (what to do after education) and 25-60-year-olds (is the hospitality sector something for them). The platform focuses on the human aspect of the sector, which radiates ‘enthusiasm’.
Because a platform alone does not attract people, the ‘Not your average job’ campaign was set up. This campaign is distributed via a ‘large media mix of channels’ such as Instagram and TikTok, with videos about five characters, each with their own storyline. With a budget of €425,000, last year 3.4 million unique visitors were reached in 2024 and 100,000 sessions on the website, with an average visit duration of 30 seconds. An update of the platform is planned for 2025 with ‘stories from real people in the sector’. The current budget of €325,000 is aimed at working towards 150,000 visitors, with the focus shifting from awareness to depth. The ‘Tell Campaign Content 2025’ will highlight five people and five stories from real employees in the hospitality, food services, recreation, travel and events sectors. The ambition for 2026 is a budget of €500,000, which will enable ‘a physical activation of the campaign so that we can make even more impact’.

Panel discussion: Practical experiences

The panel discussion brought together Frank Veldhof, managing director of defence caterer Paresto, Cindy Kasanmoeseni, HR advisor at Corendon, and Barbara Rooth, HR director at McDonald's Netherlands.

Barbara Rooth emphasised that it starts with an employee who ‘feels seen and heard’. Salary also plays a role, and attention is paid to ‘mental care for employees.’ She saw that her employees ‘are very proud of the role McDonald's plays in their lives’ and that the company ‘really gives people opportunities to enter the labour market,’ thereby fulfilling its social responsibility. Technology is used to ‘focus more on the customer’, which is ‘really the spearhead’ at McDonald's.
Cindy Kasanmoeseni of Corendon noted that although there is a shortage in the labour market, things are ‘improving’ and there is ‘more calm in the labour market’. Corendon has become ‘more flexible’. Sticking to strict schedules is no longer sustainable. Recruiting a mother who comes to work every day from 10:00 to 14:00 should be seen by schedulers as a ‘certainty in the schedule’ and not as a complicating factor. A good work-life balance ensures that people stay. For Kasanmoeseni, it is clear: ‘If employees cannot manage at home, they will look around for other options.’ Corendon has a new staff planning system where employees can fill in their own shifts and uses an AI Agent for repetitive tasks.
Frank Veldhof of Paresto predicted a 50% outflow of employees in the medium term. He called for ‘moving away from day-to-day problems and focusing more on the longer term.’ The sector is ‘not a top sector,’ which makes recruitment more difficult. Paresto operates in many locations, and Veldhof sees that each location is different. The location manager ‘really provides the connection.’ What plays into Paresto's hands these days is that ‘people want to contribute to peace and security in the Netherlands’. Veldhof emphasised the importance of staff engagement and attention to the wishes of the new generations. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the social value that is offered. It is important to analyse the workforce and anticipate outflow. Good onboarding and good contacts with vocational education are crucial. But he did have a suggestion for the many vocational education institutions operating in the Netherlands. Nationally operating companies are looking for “one point of contact for all vocational colleges”, instead of having to establish contacts with all vocational colleges.