Craig Allen, the founder and director of The Change Group, said: “Despite the slight rise in the number of people looking for work, there is still a recruitment crisis in London hospitality.”
Analysis shows the number of EU nationals coming to work in London has remained steady, increasingly slightly in the six months following the referendum. Just over 50% of applicants are from EU countries outside the UK, 55% pre referendum and 56% post referendum.
Allen said: “Theresa May is caught between a rock and a hard place. While it is very important that government policy, through Brexit negotiations, supports the rights of EU citizens in the UK, it weakens the government’s position to negotiate.
“Until clarification on EU citizens in the UK is made, much more work needs to be done to encourage Britons to work in the hospitality industry that is if they are to make up for the shortfall in staff numbers.”
The number of job seekers registering with The Change Group has increased since the referendum by 7.5% in six months.
Britons make up around one third of applicants for work in London’s leading hotels and restaurants. One in Eight applicants are from non-EU countries, mostly from Africa, Asia and Commonwealth countries.