Latest news with #hospitalityIndustry
Irish Times
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
What's the ‘Gen Z stare', and why are people talking about it?
The 'Gen Z stare' refers to a blank, expressionless look often adopted by members of Generation Z, particularly in customer service settings . Some have likened the stare to a real-life loading screen as if the Gen Z'er is refreshing their page (ie face) in real time. Who are Gen Z? Generation Z refers to people born between 1997 and 2012, so these are people aged between 13 and 28 years old. When did people start talking about it? The first mentions of the Gen Z stare began just under a year ago, but the conversation has really taken off in recent weeks with thousands online chiming in with their opinion. Last week Google searches in Ireland for the term 'Gen Z stare' more than quadrupled and videos on the topic have racked up millions of views. Why are people talking about it? There is debate about the reason for the Gen Z stare, which some say can point to a host of deeper issues. Some dismiss the stare as nothing short of rudeness, while others have linked the stare to a sense of being overwhelmed and a symptom of coming of age during the pandemic. READ MORE Members of Gen Z who work in the hospitality industry say the stare is often simply a neutral response to being asked rude or nonsensical questions. Recent surveys have found that Gen Z prefer digital to in-person communication and demonstrate higher levels of anxiety compared with previous generations. They often prefer to communicate over social media . Although there has previously been much debate on social media about some of the characteristics that Millennials share (the generation born between 1981 and 1996), such as the " millennial pause ', this is one of the first instances in which a behaviour characteristic of Gen Z has been identified and discussed in this way.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Money Talks: 73% Say Competitive Raises Are the Key to Retaining Hospitality Talent, OysterLink Poll Finds
NEW YORK, July 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As the hospitality industry continues to grapple with high turnover and talent shortages, a new OysterLink poll reveals a clear message from professionals: pay your people well—or risk losing them. In a recent LinkedIn poll conducted by OysterLink, 73% of respondents said that competitive raises and promotions are the best way for restaurants and hotels to retain top staff. The poll, which drew responses from frontline workers, managers, and hospitality recruiters, underscores the growing importance of salary transparency and financial incentives in retention strategies. "We're hearing loud and clear that pay is still the top motivator," said Milos Eric, General Manager at OysterLink. "It's not that culture or training doesn't matter—it's that they can't make up for stagnant wages in a competitive market." Poll Results – "How Should Employers Retain Their Best Staff?" 73% – Competitive raise & promotions 18% – Career growth & upskilling 7% – Enhanced culture and benefits 2% – Accept turnover The findings come amid rising job-hopping trends in hospitality, where workers often switch jobs to accelerate their salary growth. OysterLink data shows that many frontline roles—like bartender, line cook, or front office manager—can see significant pay increases within two to four years, especially when moving between employers. While career development and culture still play a role, respondents overwhelmingly agree that pay remains the foundation of retention. Employers who fail to adjust wages risk losing their best talent to competitors who will. This poll is part of OysterLink's ongoing effort to highlight the real experiences and priorities of hospitality professionals across the U.S. About OysterLink OysterLink is a leading job platform dedicated to the hospitality industry. We connect restaurants, hotels, and hospitality employers with skilled candidates across the U.S. and internationally. With job listings, including bartender jobs in New York City and chef jobs in Los Angeles, industry insights, and career resources, OysterLink helps professionals build rewarding careers in the hospitality industry. Currently, OysterLink attracts over 400,000 monthly visitors and continues to grow steadily. Media Contactpress@ View original content: SOURCE OysterLink Sign in to access your portfolio
Fox News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump urges 'temporary pass' from immigration crackdown for key industries: 'I cherish our farmers'
The Trump administration is working on a way to allow farmers and the hospitality industry to have a "temporary pass" to avoid a negative impact from Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, he said on "Sunday Morning Futures." "I don't back away. What I do have, I cherish our farmers," the president said when asked by host Maria Bartiromo about the issue. "And when we go into a farm and we take away people that have been working there for 15 and 20 years, who were good, who possibly came in incorrectly. And what we're going to do is we're going to do something for farmers where we can let the farmer sort of be in charge. The farmer knows he's not going to hire a murderer." "But you know, when you go into a farm and you set somebody working with them for nine years doing this kind of work, which is hard work to do and a lot of people aren't going to do it, and you end up destroying a farmer because you took all the people away," he said. "It's a problem. You know, I'm on both sides of the thing. I'm the strongest immigration guy that there's ever been, but I'm also the strongest farmer guy that there's ever been, and that includes also hotels and, you know, places where people work, a certain group of people work," the president added. "We're working on it right now. We're going to work it so that, some kind of a temporary pass, where people pay taxes, where the farmer can have a little control as opposed to you walk in and take everybody away," he continued, emphasizing that "criminals are going out of this country." On June 12, the president made similar comments about hotels and farms potentially running into issues as the result of federal immigration enforcement. "Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," Trump posted to Truth Social. "In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!" On June 19, border czar Tom Homan signaled that those operations would still continue, but it's not a major focus. "The message is clear that we're going to continue to do worksite enforcement operations – even on farms and hotels but based on a prioritized basis. Criminals come first," Homan said, according to Axios. ICE and DHS referred to the White House, and the White House deferred to the president's remarks when Fox News Digital reached out. The comments from the president come as the administration aims to ramp up deportation efforts, whether it's those with criminal charges and convictions or who entered the country illegally under the Biden administration. At the border itself, apprehensions and gotaway figures have taken a nosedive since Trump took office. DHS is also encouraging those without a criminal history to self-deport by offering $1,000 and free travel outside the United States. ICE operations have been the subject of protests and even riots, including in Los Angeles.
Forbes
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Trump Says Deportation Raids Will Shift To Cities After Criticism Of Targeting Farming And Hospitality
The Trump administration will now focus its deportation raids on 'America's largest cities,' Trump announced on his social media platform, again evolving the administration's message after he was criticized by even some conservatives for raids that could hurt the hospitality and agriculture industries. President Donald Trump steps off of Air Force One at Calgary International Airport, before the start ... More of the G7 summit, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 15, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) Trump said his administration will 'expand efforts to detain and deport illegal Aliens in America's largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York,' calling them 'the core of the Democrat Power Center' in a Sunday Truth Social post. Trump made the statement after acknowledging Thursday that the hospitality and farming industries 'have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them,' promising 'changes are coming!' This is a developing story and will be updated.
Forbes
12-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Meet The Humanoid Robot Designed To Clean Your Hotel Room
The Zerith H1 restocks amenities in a hotel shower. It can also clean floors and pick up towels and ... More clothes. Next time you toss used towels onto the floor of your hotel room, it could be a housekeeping robot scooping them up. Meet Zerith H1, a humanoid robot designed specifically for the hospitality industry. The bot can autonomously clean floors, restock amenities and even scrub toilets with a brush. Chinese startup Zerith Robotics, founded in January with a focus on the large-scale deployment of humanoids, says the H1 has the power to transform the hospitality industry, which took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel sharply declined and holing up at home became the norm, leading many laid-off or furloughed employees to ditch the industry for more secure jobs. The American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2025 annual state of the industry report indicates that the industry is still short some 200,000 workers from pre-pandemic levels. Zerith H1 has a torso — height adjustable from ground level up to 6.5 feet — attached to a small base outfitted with flexible wheels. Its arms, with seven degrees of freedom, can lengthen to about 2.5 feet and be outfitted with dexterous robo-hands. It's equipped with artificial intelligence, sensors and depth cameras that allow it to avoid obstacles and navigate narrow hallways and rooms with various layouts. It has a battery life of four hours. Zerith Robotics recently posted a video showing the bot at work in a hotel bathroom — tossing towels in a laundry hamper like a pro, replenishing toiletries, tidying the counter and even filling a vase of flowers with fresh water from the sink. 'We chose the hospitality industry because our ultimate goal is to enter households,' Min Yuheng, founder of Zerith Robotics, said in an email. 'Hotels serve as an ideal standard scenario leading to homes, with clear demands and reusable data that can be applied to household settings.' Robotic devices have been vacuuming carpets, mopping floors and cleaning litter boxes for years now. But while companies from 1X to Tesla are working on humanoid robots to help with household chores, it's still unusual to see these androids roaming messy homes, brooms in their robo-hands. Zerith was jointly incubated by Tsinghua University and the Jianghuai Advanced Technology Center and has assembled experts in artificial intelligence and robotics from such companies as Baidu, TikTok owner ByteDance and iFlyTek, which supplies voice recognition software. The H1 housekeeping bot needs more training to adapt to diverse environments before it can infiltrate the home market, Yuheng said. Then there's the price. If Zerith ultimately envisions the H1 as a domestic helper, the bot's current tag of around $13,700 isn't exactly hospitable to the average consumer. A representative from the American Hotel & Lodging Association declined to comment on what housecleaning robots would mean for human workers, but acknowledged labor shortages in the sector. In a survey released earlier this year by the AHLA, nearly 65% of hotels polled continued to report staffing were most common in housekeeping, at 38%, followed by front desk roles, at 26%. Hotels also reported having trouble finding workers to fill culinary positions and maintenance roles. While hotels have yet to widely incorporate robots into their workforce, some have already started experimenting with them. Among these businesses are Seattle's Astra hotel, where Sparky the robot butler will happily deliver your room service order, and Yotel NYC in Times Square, where a 15-foot robotic arm hoists luggage into storage lockers in the lobby for travelers who want to walk around unburdened before or after checking in. But robots don't always make hotel life smoother for guests — at least not yet. In 2019, the 'world's first robot hotel' fired more than half of its 200-plus robot workers after guest complaints about technical difficulties made the machines more trouble than they were worth. One staff member reportedly said, 'It's easier now that we're not being frequently called by guests to help with problems with the robots.'
