Fáilte Ireland 2025 Tourism Careers Labour Market Research shows progress in rebuilding workforce since 2021.
The difficulty hiring managers and supervisors dropped from 55pc in 2021 to 29pc in 2025. Retention of chefs improves with 39pc of employers reporting little or no difficulty, up from 27pc in 2024.
- 62pc of workers report improved pay conditions including basic pay and unsocial hours remuneration.
- 86pc of workers view tourism as long-term career with 51pc citing passion as key motivator.
Sarah Dolly shared “Post-pandemic, the biggest challenge businesses had was getting skilled talent. We undertook the 2021 report to get a sense of the extent and nuance behind that, and the findings laid bare the scale: 40,000 vacancies across the sector; 1 in 3 people were new to the industry, which highlighted the skills gap; and acute retention difficulties in all roles, but particularly chefs and managers. The report also showed people were quickly promoted into management roles who didn’t necessarily have the adequate skillset required, and underlining all that was the persistent negative perception of tourism and hospitality careers.”
