Whilst 2015 has seen a significant rise in hospitality jobs, application rates have failed to maintain the same growth, resulting in dwindling candidate choice for businesses.

Latest figures have highlighted that job postings in the hospitality sector have risen by 61% in the last year. Unsurprisingly the majority of job vacancies were located in the South East which saw a massive 73% increase in job roles year-on-year, yet the biggest increase in vacancies occurred in the South West (75.3%). The region totalling the fewest number of job vacancies in July 2015 was the East Midlands which also saw the slowest regional growth of a mere 14.3%.

Despite impressive job growth across the nation, the number of job hunters applying for roles in the sector has failed to maintain pace – compared to the previous year, July 2015 saw a meagre 8.5% increase in applications. These numbers leave an overall deficit of 32.5% in terms of the number of applications per role.

This is concerning news for businesses. Whilst a hospitality company could expect to receive 27.7 candidates per role in July 2014, comparable data for July 2015 shows that this number has reduced to 18.7, meaning businesses have less choice during the selection process.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, explains: “Our latest data demonstrates that businesses need to be savvier at attracting new talent to their organisations. With jobs on the rise, applicants can afford to be more selective in their job search. This data combined with the reality that the industry faces staggeringly high staff turnover, means hospitality businesses have a bigger challenge on their hands.”