Almost 9,000 hospitality jobs have been lost since the November budget, at a time when the sector would traditionally have been staffing up in preparation for the festive period, new data shows.
According to the latest labour market data from the Office for National Statistics, hospitality employed 8,784 fewer people in December 2025, compared with November 2025.
UKHospitality said these figures “reinforce the scale of the challenges facing hospitality”, with changes to employer NICs and other increased employment costs continuing to impact the sector.
In November, the Treasury confirmed that the national living wage would rise by 50p to £12.71 an hour from April 2026. The national minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise by 85p to £10.85 an hour. For 16 and 17-year-olds and those on apprenticeships, it will increase from £7.55 to £8 an hour.
At the time, UKHospitality warned of an additional £1.4bn in costs for the sector as a result of these increases, arguing that the rise for 18 to 20-year-olds was higher than expected and would “put further pressure on youth employment” while also fuelling inflation.
The trade body added that increases to rateable values would see an average pub pay £12,900 more in business rates over three years, as rates climb 76% for pubs and 115% for hotels.
With business rates expected to “rise significantly” in April, UKHospitality is calling for urgent action to avert these increases through a hospitality-wide solution. It is urging the government to increase the business rates discount for hospitality properties to the maximum 20p permitted in law.
“Hospitality is being hit by costs at every angle and it is the cumulative effect of this growing tax burden that is resulting in the number of people employed in hospitality continuing to fall,” said UKHospitality CEO Allen Simpson.
“It was less than a year ago when our local hospitality venues were landed with £3.4bn in additional annual cost, and now they face their business rates increasing too.
“Looming business rates increases are only making things worse and the government needs to act urgently to bring forward a hospitality-wide solution that averts those hikes. If it doesn’t, we will only see job losses and business closures accelerate.”
No comments yet