Research: Understanding experiences of low-paid work in the hospitality sector over time

This report explores the experiences of low-paid workers in Scotland’s hospitality sector, looking to understand the structural challenges and personal experiences in their employment.

Conducted over three waves of longitudinal interviews from 2022 to 2024, the Serving the Future project has captured the evolving realities of a group of hospitality workers’ lives within the context of rising living costs, job insecurity, and broader societal changes such as Brexit and COVID-19.

The report identified factors that distinguish positive from negative experiences in the hospitality workplace and the challenges of sustaining employment in the sector over time:

• Positive experiences often stemmed from supportive management, fair scheduling of shifts, and access to training and career progression.
• Conversely, unpredictable hours, and poor management practices drove dissatisfaction and prompted some workers to leave the sector entirely.
• Workers also highlighted high turnover, a lack of progression opportunities, and physically and emotionally demanding work as challenges related to sustaining employment in the hospitality sector.

You can read the report in the window below, or download it from here.