Abstract

This policy brief presents findings from a study conducted at the University of Lincoln by Dr Agnieszka Rydzik into the employment experiences of students working on zero-hour contracts in UK hospitality. It draws on 44 interviews with student-workers and discusses key policy implications and recommendations. Understanding experiences of hospitality work from the student-worker perspective can bring rich and novel insights useful for a range of stakeholders. This is important in the context of wider pressures on young adults around employability, youth underemployment, a competitive graduate market and the mental health crisis. Through understanding the challenges student-workers face, the sector and employers can begin to consider how to better integrate this worker group to realise mutual benefits, and help address the key recruitment and retention challenges hospitality employers face post-Brexit.