Now more than ever, the hospitality industry is facing a huge talent challenge, Covid hollowed it out.

Many were asked to leave, even more left, those who stayed were overwhelmed and even more so now as travel recovers.

The future lies in its ability to retain as well as attract new talent.

But how can it do that beyond holding job fairs, pushing open positions and speaking at career events about how big the industry is ? Well, we asked a Singapore university student, in her second year in medical school, Caitlyn Tan, to share her views and ideas. Truth is, she and her peers never even considered hospitality as a career – equating it to menial jobs and subservient labour.

But as she got to know the industry better through talking to mentors who work in hospitality, her mind shifted and she believes the way the industry can attract young talent like her is to effect a mindset change.

Taking on hospitality as a career – to be perfectly frank, this is a thought that had never once crossed my mind. It definitely wasn’t anywhere on my radar when I found myself at that pivotal point of university applications, armed with all of 17 years of worldly experience to choose a future career path.

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