Wasted youth in the hospitality industry: Older workers’ perceptions and misperceptions about younger workers

In many western contexts, although young people form a high proportion of the hospitality workforce, perceptions of hospitality work as temporary and unpredictable rather than an aspirational career choice means turnover is very high. The aim of the study on which the article is based was to investigate why people build and maintain long careers working in hospitality. This article focuses on the career experiences of young workers in the industry, viewed from the perspective of older workers in long-term hospitality careers. An intersectional methodology explored how youthful body-age, at times interacting with other aspects of socially ascribed difference, is reflected in work-place organizational processes. The findings suggest that younger workers in hospitality are not valued and the discussion addresses the ways in which inequitable power relations create this status quo. The conclusion is that the hospitality sector should retain its youthful workers, rather than wasting this finite human resource.