A staffing gap can quickly affect the rest of a hotel. A housekeeping shortage can delay room availability, a missing guest service agent can leave the front desk stretched, and a function can become difficult to run when there are not enough people on the floor.
Recruitment is important, but it does not solve every short-notice absence. Hotels need a workforce plan that covers predictable demand, keeps useful staff on the roster and provides another option when internal capacity runs out.
For hotels comparing hotel workforce solutions, the useful question is not simply how to hire more people. It is how to cover predictable demand, planned leave and unexpected gaps without carrying unnecessary staffing capacity during quieter periods.
Below are five practical approaches Australian hotels can use, with the right mix depending on the property's size, operating model and workforce.
Why hotel staffing gaps keep happening
Staffing shortages can have different causes. Demand may change because of occupancy, group bookings, functions, seasonal periods or other events. Recruitment and retention can also be more difficult for some roles and in some local labour markets.
The important distinction is between a temporary gap and a recurring vacancy. A sick call or unusually busy weekend needs a short-term response. If the same role remains difficult to fill week after week, the underlying issue may be recruitment, retention, workload or the way the role is rostered.
That distinction helps determine which workforce solution is actually needed.
1. Build the roster around the work, not last week's roster
Start each roster with forecast occupancy, expected departures and stayovers, group bookings, functions and the workload each department expects to handle.
For housekeeping, translate the expected room workload into attendant hours using the property's own operating figures. Room type, turnaround expectations and service standards can affect the number of people required, so a simple occupancy percentage is not enough on its own.
Food and beverage planning should consider expected covers, confirmed functions and service periods. A hotel preparing for a large event may need additional banquet staff, while a quieter restaurant service may require a different mix.
Front office also has its own peaks. Check-in and check-out periods, group arrivals and overnight coverage can create very different staffing requirements across the day. Guest service agents can form part of that planning where additional front-office capacity is required.
Review the forecast and roster regularly as bookings change. A short weekly review gives department heads an opportunity to identify uncovered shifts while there is still time to respond.
2. Use a three-layer workforce model
A hotel does not have to rely on one type of employee to handle every change in demand. A useful way to plan capacity is to separate the workforce into three layers.
Workforce layer | Who it includes | When it is useful |
Core team | Permanent and part-time employees who provide the property's regular staffing capacity | Predictable day-to-day demand |
Casual bench | Regular casual workers familiar with the property and its operating standards | Planned leave, weekends, seasonal increases and other foreseeable peaks |
External cover | Suitable workers supplied through a staffing provider | Unexpected absences, demand changes and gaps that cannot be filled internally |
The aim is not to make one layer carry the entire workload. Use historical occupancy and event patterns to estimate predictable demand, then reserve casual and external capacity for the part of demand that is genuinely variable.
Review that mix when the property's occupancy pattern, opening hours, service levels or operating model changes. A workforce structure that suited a hotel six months ago may not suit it now.
3. Give good staff reasons to stay
Retention is part of shortage management. When experienced employees leave, the hotel loses not only a person on the roster but also knowledge of its procedures, service standards and property.
Start with the basics. Publish rosters as early as practical and avoid unnecessary changes. Make expectations clear, provide useful feedback and give employees opportunities to develop skills that can lead to broader responsibilities.
Pay also needs careful attention. Many hotel employees may be covered by the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020, but the applicable award or enterprise agreement depends on the role, employer and employment arrangements. Hotels should check the current requirements before setting minimum rates, penalty rates, loadings or other employment conditions.
4. Cross-train carefully so one absence does not stop the work
Cross-training can give a hotel more flexibility when someone is unavailable, but it should be based on genuine competence rather than simply putting more names into a spreadsheet.
Some hotels use pairings such as housemen and public area attendants covering appropriate related duties, waitstaff supporting banquet operations, or guest service agents developing additional front-office skills. A hotel may also use kitchen stewards across suitable tasks when they have been properly trained.
Do not assign someone to unfamiliar work simply because their name appears on a skills matrix. Food safety, equipment operation and other safety-sensitive duties require appropriate training and competency before an employee is assigned the task.
5. Arrange external staffing before an urgent gap occurs
If a hotel regularly needs additional workers, it is worth assessing external staffing before the next urgent vacancy appears. The provider can then understand the property's requirements, preferred roles and operating expectations before a shift needs to be filled.
Before engaging a staffing provider, ask:
Which roles can the provider currently supply?
How are workers screened and what experience is checked?
Who employs the workers and manages their pay and entitlements?
What notice does the provider normally need?
Are there minimum shift requirements or other booking conditions?
Which role-specific qualifications or licences are required?
Does labour hire licensing apply in the state or territory where the work will take place?
How do applicable awards, enterprise agreements and protected pay-rate rules affect the arrangement?
Labour hire arrangements can involve specific workplace obligations. Fair Work guidance explains that labour-hire employees are employed by the labour-hire employer, while regulated labour-hire arrangement orders can create protected pay-rate requirements in certain circumstances.
Hotels should therefore confirm the employment and compliance arrangements rather than treating staffing as a simple supplier transaction. The Fair Work labour hire guidance provides further information.
For hotels that need additional hospitality workers, InfyWorx provides staffing across roles including housekeeping, guest services, banquet and other operational positions. You can review how the staffing process works before deciding whether external cover fits your workforce plan.
Use a weekly check to see what is actually improving
A weekly department-head review is useful only if it leads to action. Keep it focused on the information that can change the next roster.
Ask:
Does the next fortnight's roster reflect forecast occupancy, departures, functions and other known workload?
Which shifts are still uncovered, and can the casual bench cover them?
Who is on leave or regularly unavailable?
Which duties currently have only one trained person available?
Is external staffing needed for any gaps that cannot reasonably be covered internally?
Track the bigger picture each month as well. Useful measures include uncovered shifts, last-minute call-outs, overtime hours, external staffing hours, time-to-fill and recurring vacancies.
Those patterns can show where the problem sits. A rise in uncovered housekeeping shifts may point to recruitment or retention. Repeated overtime may indicate that the core roster is too small. Frequent short-notice staffing requests may show that the hotel needs more flexible capacity.
Frequently asked questions
Is agency staff more expensive than hiring directly?
A staffing provider can have a higher direct hourly cost than employing someone directly, but the comparison depends on utilisation, employment costs, overtime, minimum engagements and how often additional cover is needed. For irregular peaks or short-notice gaps, compare the provider's total cost with the cost of overtime, unfilled shifts and maintaining additional staffing capacity during quieter periods.
When should a hotel use casual staff versus external staffing?
Use a regular casual bench for predictable peaks, planned leave and shifts that can usually be filled with reasonable notice. External staffing can be useful when internal capacity is exhausted, demand changes unexpectedly or an absence leaves an important gap that cannot be covered internally. The right mix depends on the hotel's workforce size, occupancy pattern and operating model.
How can a hotel tell if staff shortages are a recruitment problem?
Look for recurring patterns rather than individual difficult shifts. If the same roles remain vacant, turnover stays high or the hotel repeatedly relies on overtime or external cover for the same positions, the issue may require a recruitment or retention response rather than another short-term staffing solution.
Does cross-training replace the need for additional staff?
No. Cross-training gives a hotel more flexibility when trained employees are available, but it does not create additional workforce capacity. It should be used alongside appropriate staffing levels and only for duties employees are properly trained and competent to perform.
Where to start
Start with the staffing problem that appears most often in your own records. If the issue is predictable demand, improve workforce forecasting. If the same positions remain vacant, examine recruitment and retention. If short-notice absences are the main problem, strengthen the casual bench and establish an external option before the next urgent gap.
The goal is a staffing plan that matches the hotel's actual workload rather than relying on the same roster every week.