Hotel Labor Costs
Investing in Training Hotel Employees
Robert Mandelbaum | February 1, 2022
By Robert Mandelbaum Given the challenges U.S. hotels are having attracting and retaining employees, the need to invest in employee training is as great as it has ever been. Unfortunately, training expenditures, like all operating expenses, have been subject to major cuts in response to the extremely reduced levels of revenue incurred during 2020 and 2021. Labor is the single biggest expense within a hotel. In 2019, before COVID-19, the average property in our Trends® in the Hotel Industry survey sample spent 31.3 percent of its total revenue, or 42.4 percent of its total expenses, on labor costs. This includes the salaries, wages, ...
Labor Costs Brought U.S. Hotel Profitability Down Further in September
STR | November 2, 2021
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee — November 2, 2021 — Increased spending on labor created lower gross operating profit for U.S. hotels, according to STR‘s September 2021 monthly P&L data release. Estimated labor costs came in at 96% of the comparable level from 2019, which was the highest index of the pandemic-era. All the key profitability metrics fell from August. GOPPAR: US$46.29 TRevPAR: US$140.94 EBITDA PAR: US$30.47 LPAR (Labor Costs): US$47.50 “Higher labor margins meant less room for profits, and the GOP margin fell for the second consecutive month to 33%,” said Raquel Ortiz, STR’s assistant dire...
Hotel Labor Costs Are Up Across the Globe. Here’s How to Cope.
HotStats | June 21, 2021
The U.S. isn’t the only country having issues filling hotel positions. In the wake of pandemic-induced layoffs and furloughs, properties around the globe are having trouble staffing up. That’s a troubling trend not only in terms of hoteliers’ service goals, but also in terms of managing labor expenses, which have been rising. In Europe, total labor costs on a per-available-room basis in April 2021 were $18.94, according to HotStats data, versus $15.75 at the same time last year. In Asia, labor costs rose to $37.63 in April from $25.67 in April 2020. Like in the U.S., where some former hotel workers have left the sector and migrate...
How to Keep Hotel Labor Costs Down When Business Ramps Up
Rayna Katz | April 21, 2021
By Rayna Katz Some changes made to cope with the pandemic likely will be industry norms, while the crisis also spotlighted the need for new practices to be put in place. When the coronavirus pandemic surged worldwide in 2020, sending hotel occupancy into free-fall, owners and management companies worked to reduce labor costs wherever possible. On top of layoffs and furloughs, corners were cut—when they could be without damaging the guest experience—and many employees were tasked with multiple jobs. Now, as the industry gears up to get back to business, what will hoteliers do to control labor costs? How many measures that have bee...
