Hospitality and tourism employment: Strengthening futures 2025

Drawing on 2025 data benchmarked against 2024 and 2022, the analysis reveals where the workforce is gaining ground and where systemic pressures persist. While attitudes towards productivity and profitability remain strong and work dignity continues to improve, key employment conditions show concerning trends: perceptions of fair pay have declined, experiences of workplace bullying have risen, and over one-third of workers intend to leave their organisations in the next twelve months.

Priority areas provide insight into where targeted investment can strengthen retention and where critical gaps require attention to secure sustainable employment across the sector: career commitment patterns, education pathways, pay adequacy, customer abuse, neurodivergent worker experiences, AI adoption readiness, and training access.

Progress and stability

Productivity and engagement  

In 2025, workforce attitudes toward productivity and organisational profitability remain strong, though slightly lower than in 2024. Tourism workers report marginally stronger productivity orientations, while awareness of financial realities is highest among managers, older employees, higher earners, and those with longer tenure or higher qualifications.

Work engagement is notably higher among employees with people-management responsibilities and within tourism businesses, both outperforming hospitality counterparts. Engagement peaks in very small and medium-sized organisations and rises sharply with tenure and age, climbing from low levels among newer and younger workers to very high engagement among long-serving and older employees.

• 83% care about being productive in their jobs (91% in 2024)
• 75% agree that organisational profitability matters (76% in 2024)
• 87% felt they had the skills to do their jobs with confidence (90% for 2024)
• The average agreement rate across nine workplace engagement items was 64%.
• Reported workplace dignity continued to improve, reaching 68% in 2025, up from 62% in 2022 and 67.5% in 2024.
•  Overall work dignity and job satisfaction remained stable at 68% in 2025, matching 2024 and exceeding 2022 levels (62%).
• Respondents who reported they enjoyed their work was 72%, as was the case in 2024 vs 70% in 2022.

Training and promotion 

Opportunities for training and advancement have improved markedly in 2025. The proportion of respondents rating training opportunities as good rose to 62%, up from 57% in 2024 and 41% in 2022. Demand for further training remains strong, with 70% wanting more, compared with 60% last year. Perceptions of promotion prospects also increased, reaching 53% in 2025 (up from 48% in 2024 and 42% in 2022).

Training access and promotion opportunities are shaped primarily by structural and organisational factors, such as sector, managerial responsibility, workplace size, tenure, and remuneration, rather than by individual characteristics alone, suggesting that organisational context plays a decisive role in determining who receives development opportunities and who progresses within the workforce.

Career commitment 

Commitment to a career in hospitality and tourism remains moderate, with an average positive response of 57%. Most employees express strong attachment to the industry, with 63% stating they would choose the same career again and 62% definitely want a future in the sector. Key drivers of career commitment (and inhibitors of turnover) include access to training, promotion opportunities, fair pay, and perceived dignity in the workplace.

Education 

Educational attainment continues to rise, with the proportion of respondents holding a Bachelor’s degree increased to 30%, up from 28% (2024) and 25% (2023). Postgraduate qualifications have remained relatively stable over the same period, at approximately 10–12%.

Neurodiversity 

In 2025, 24% of respondents identified as neurodivergent, with an additional 13% responding as unsure. This marks a significant increase from 2024, when 15% identified as neurodivergent and 10% were uncertain, potentially indicating increased diagnosis and recognition within the workforce.

AI Adoption

AI use in hospitality and tourism is emerging but limited, with one in three employees reporting any use of AI at work. Organisational support is also weak, as 51% of employees indicate that managers do not provide resources for AI-related initiatives.

AI uptake is higher in large, urban workplaces, particularly among managers, tourism businesses, and employees with postgraduate qualifications (44%). Clear equity gaps remain, with Māori and Pacific Peoples reporting lower adoption than New Zealand Europeans, while respondents from Other Asian groups report the highest levels of use.

Navigating challenges

Despite areas of progress, challenges around fair pay, workforce retention, and employee wellbeing continue to pose material risks for the sector. At the same time, the findings point to clear opportunities for improvement. Addressing pay adequacy, career stability, wellbeing, and inclusion will be central to strengthening the future of the hospitality and tourism workforce.

Pay and conditions 

In 2025, most respondents (59%) were in permanent full-time roles, with 26% in permanent part-time and 10% in casual or on-call positions, reflecting only minor shifts since 2022. Salaries account for 37% of pay arrangements, while 63% are hourly paid, with mean actual hours worked at 33.3 per week. Average salary is $80,101 and mean hourly rates are $42.78 for salaried staff and $27.72 for hourly workers.

Despite these figures, only 48% feel they are paid fairly (a decline from 57% in 2024), while 57% earn below the 2025/26 Living Wage of $28.95 (from 1 September 2025) and 8% report pay below the Minimum Wage. Additionally, 36% say they experience pressure not to claim entitlements such as sick leave or travel expenses.

Career withdrawal

Between 39% and 44% of respondents agreed with statements about leaving the hospitality and tourism sector entirely. When combined into a yes/no measure, 42% were classified as intending to leave the sector.

Organisational turnover intention 

Between 41% and 45% of employees intend to leave their organisation. When combined into a yes/no measure, 43% show turnover intention, with no difference between managers and non-managers. This has increased from 28% in 2022 and 32% in 2024.

Bullying and harassment 

Reports of negative workplace experiences have risen sharply in 2025, with 35% of respondents reporting personal experiences of bullying or harassment at work, which is up from 23% in previous surveys. Customers are the main offenders of bullying and harassment experienced. Incidents witnessed by others also increased to 36%, compared with 32% in 2024 and 34% in 2022, signalling a growing concern for workplace culture and safety.

Burnout

Indicators of burnout remain high across the workforce. Two-thirds of respondents (66%) reported feeling tired as a result of their service work, while more severe psychological strain is also evident. Around 43% reported feelings of hopelessness associated with working with customers, and 45% indicated they experience intrusive thoughts after difficult customer interactions.

Neurodiversity support

Less than one-third of all respondents report their organisation actively raises neurodiversity awareness (27%) or improves employment practices (28%).

Environmental sustainability 

In 2025, just over half of respondents report that their organisation’s values align with their own, particularly regarding environmental sustainability, with 51% and 54% agreeing on two related measures. This indicates moderate but meaningful alignment between personal and organisational priorities.

Cohorts of interest

Neurodivergent workers 

In 2025, 24% of respondents identify as neurodivergent (up from 15% in 2024), with a further 13% unsure. Neurodivergent workers report markedly lower workplace dignity and job satisfaction, higher turnover intention, and elevated burnout. They experience more than double the rate of work-related bullying compared with neurotypical workers (50% vs 24%).

Young workers (Under 25) 

Young workers comprise 33% of the workforce, down from 38% in 2024. This group shows the highest levels of turnover intention (54%), career withdrawal, and burnout. Only 41% report having promotion opportunities, compared with 57% of those aged 45–54. Younger workers also report the lowest levels of workplace dignity and job satisfaction of any age group.

Small organisation employees (1-5 Staff) 

Employees in very small organisations account for 9% of respondents, down from 13.5% in 2024. They report less access to training and promotion than those in larger organisations and mixed experiences of pay and conditions. However, they also report the lowest rates of work-related bullying (16%) and turnover intention (20%), suggesting that despite limited formal supports, very small workplaces may offer greater stability and lower conflict.

Hospitality vs tourism Workers 

Hospitality workers reported experiencing higher levels of personal bullying and harassment compared with tourism workers (39% vs 27%, respectively). A similar pattern was observed for work-related bullying behaviours, with higher reported prevalence among hospitality workers than tourism workers (31% vs 23%). Hospitality workers also had higher turnover intention (40% vs 31%) compared with tourism workers. By comparison, tourism workers report stronger engagement, slightly higher productivity, greater access to training (69% vs 58%), and better promotion opportunities, indicating more supportive development pathways.

Managers vs front-line workers 

In 2025, 45% of respondents report managing staff, down from 49% in 2024. Front-line workers are far more likely than managers to earn below the Living Wage, report lower job satisfaction, and experience elevated burnout. Managers, by contrast, report higher exposure to work-related bullying (30% vs 25%) but greater access to training (69% vs 58%).

Long-tenure vs short-tenure workers 

A clear stability gradient is evident: turnover intention affects nearly half of workers with under three years’ tenure (47–49%), compared with just 14% among those with more than 20 years’ service. Engagement and training participation rise sharply with tenure, while burnout is concentrated among newer workers. Long-tenure employees show the strongest career commitment and retention.