More women than men work in the hospitality sector. In 2000, women accounted for 67% of the total workforce, but this ranges from a very narrow majority in restaurants to a large over-representation of women in hospitality services.  The percentage of women employees in the different hospitality sub-sectors is as follows

• restaurants 51%
• pubs, clubs and bars 62%
• hotels 61%
• contract catering 66%
• hospitality services 82%

Source: HfT/VT Plus Training 2003

Employment levels by gender and status in hotels and catering, 2002-2012

Source: Working Futures 2004, table 6.15.2. Based on CE/IER estimates.

There are interesting issues about the age structure of the hospitality workforce which include: 

• 40% of the workforce is below 25, an increase of 10% over 1999 and high in comparison with the national average of 14%
• the industry has a lower than average proportion of ‘prime-aged’ workers, defined as those aged between 25 and 59 
• 19% of workers in the industry are in their 30s, down from 20% in 1999 (compared to 27.4% across all industries)
• 13% of employees in hospitality are in their 40s, down from 18% in 1999 (compared to 23.1% across all industries)

Since 2001 there has been some change with an increase in employees aged 30-49, but there is considerable variation across sectors e.g. 25% of pub employees are under 19 and 20% of contract catering employees are over 50.

Source: HfT/VT Plus Training 2003 and Hospitality Sector Report  2002

Around 8% of employees in hospitality are from minority ethnic groups, suggesting that there is no significant under-representation within the sector. However, there are very considerable variations between the representation of people from minority ethnic groups within different sub-sectors and occupations.  People from minority ethnic groups comprise:

• 16% of restaurant and catering manager
• 13% of chefs and cooks
• 2% of bar staff
• 2% of hotel and accommodation managers
• 1% of publicans

Source: HfT/VT Plus Training 2003

There is an apparent lack of data regarding disabled people working in the hospitality sector.