LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan pledged today to tackle serious hospitality sector staff shortages that he says threaten to derail the capital’s economic recovery from Covid-19.

The move was widely welcomed, although unions stressed the importance of dealing with the sector’s chronic low pay and gig economy status.

Measures announced by the mayor include direct support for skills training, alongside pressure on ministers to review “damaging” new immigration rules and introduce a “coronavirus recovery visa” aimed at bringing foreign workers back to Britain.

In a sector that pre-pandemic employed 3.2 million people, including some 568,000 in London, a third of venues are now struggling to recruit sufficient staff, City Hall said.

Mr Khan said that the pandemic and new visa rules had been a “double whammy” for hospitality venues trying to recruit workers with the necessary skills.

“That’s why I’m urging ministers to review their damaging changes to visa rules and give cities like London the devolved powers to fill vacancies in sectors where there are such acute shortages,” he said.

“Through my skills academies programme I will be supporting more Londoners to get the training and skills they need to have successful careers in the industry.”

GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast said: “The only sustainable plan is to make hospitality a high-wage, high-value sector, with better quality jobs.

“Any business that’s serious about that should give us a call.  

“Employers need to work with unions to deal with the long-established issues within the industry such as the perceived lack of status, lack of career opportunities and unsociable hours to create a more attractive career for workers moving forwards. 

“The truth is that in the short term that coronavirus isn’t going anywhere, so even if the government changed immigration rules, in the world of closed borders we’re not going to be able to attract migrant workers any time soon.”

Unite hospitality national officer Dave Turnbull said: “The mayor needs to address the endemic low pay and zero-hours culture which blights the industry and makes it such an unattractive option for UK- born workers.

“Any visas issued for jobs in the sector must be conditional on pay rates of at least that of the London living wage and guaranteed contractual hours.”

Kate Nicholls of employers’ association UKHospitality said: “Training up more Londoners with the skills they need to take up jobs in hospitality will be crucial to maintaining our status as a world-class sector.”