DATA suggests that job vacancies for businesses will be not filled in the hospitality sector.

Figures from the Office of National Statics revealed that UK job vacancies at a record high and some industries are reporting difficulties in recruiting new staff.

A lack of EU applicants has been cited as a contributing factor to the recruitment challenges, particularly in transport and storage.

Hospitality businesses are more than twice as likely as other industries to be experiencing challenges in filling vacancies compared with normal expectations for this time of year.

Between 23 August and 5 September 2021, 30% of hospitality businesses said that vacancies were more difficult to fill than normal.

This compares with 13% across all industries (up from 9% in early August).

Vacancy challenges are more common for larger businesses.

This is not the case though for businesses with fewer than 10 employees, 41% of businesses across all industries were struggling to fill vacancies in late August, up from 32% earlier in the month.

3 in 10 hospitality businesses are finding vacancies difficult to fill

Percentage of businesses reporting on their ability to fill vacancies in the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year, weighted by count, 23 August to 5 September 2021.