During periods of economic growth, there's a lot of money circulating and most people can afford to travel. Also, people today are more knowledgeable about wine, good food and travel destinations compared to about 20 years ago and this has resulted in the need for more people in different types of work in the industry. This has helped in creating more hospitality job openings.
Even with the current increase of hospitality job openings, many people do not want to enter into the hospitality industry because they believe there is little pay in return for long work hours. They are just unaware of the benefits, including many opportunities for advancement and high paying positions. This industry is glamorous and vibrant and a career in hospitality gives you the chance of earning a good living with six-figure incomes with almost all-expenses paid. It also offers a more dynamic work environment than most other professions. Considering the level of accommodation companies provide to their top managers and even the free daily perks hotel and restaurant managers get and you will see that the average salaries for hospitality jobs are competitive with other industries.
Here we give the top 10 jobs in the hospitality industry in terms of growth through 2018. These include only entry level regular and contractual hospitality job openings. Hospitality part time jobs are not counted. Also take note that hospitality management job openings and other high level positions are not in this list since they are not entry level positions and are expected to have lower overall growth:
- Desk clerks - Responsible for an assortment of services for guests, particularly as front desk personnel who check-in and check-out guests, assign rooms and answer requests and inquiries of hotel services. There are at present around 220,000 desk clerks in the U.S. and this position has a projected job growth of 13.8 percent through 2018.
- Housekeepers / Maids - Responsible for light cleaning duties like making beds, cleaning rooms and halls, replenishing linens, vacuuming, emptying wastebaskets and restocking toiletries. There are more than 430,000 employed in this type of job in the U.S. and its projected job growth through 2018 is 3.8 percent.
- Repair / Engineering - Responsible for repairing and maintaining equipment, such as air conditioning, lighting, etc...in casinos, hotels and other hospitality facilities. There are at present over 85,000 workers in this job type and its projected growth through 2018 is 8.2 percent.
- Cooks - Prepares food in restaurants, hotels, meeting venues and other hospitality facilities. There are currently around 75,000 cooks in the U.S. and this occupation is projected to grow at 6.5 percent through 2018.
- Gaming dealers - responsible for operating table games in casinos, determines the winner, calculates and pays winning bets and collects losing bets. There are around 35,000 gaming dealers in the U.S. today and this job type is projected to grow at 13 percent through 2018.
- Janitors / Grounds maintenance - responsible for cleaning public comfort rooms and all around grounds maintenance and cleaning and also include gardening. There are currently around 21,000 of this type of worker in the U.S. hospitality industry and it is projected to grow by 7.2 percent through 2018.
- Restaurant attendants - includes all types of waiters/waitresses. Assigns tables to customers, makes advanced reservations and takes care of all aspects of the dining room. This type of worker currently numbers around 45,000 in the U.S.
- Security - this includes all types of security personnel from regular uniformed security guards to plainclothes security in casinos. Responsible for guarding the establishment they are working for. At present there are around 30,000 security guards in the U.S. hospitality industry and this job type is projected to grow by about 7 percent through 2018.
- Sales / Marketing - responsible for promotional activities and selling whatever products hospitality facilities have to offer. These number around 50,000 in the U.S. hospitality industry and are projected to grow by 3.8 percent through 2018.
- Concierge - responsible for assisting guests in acquiring tickets to special events and help in making travel arrangements. These number more than 9,000 in the U.S. and are projected to grow by 13.5 percent through 2018.
