Cookery-Related Employment Vacancy Advertisements and Skills Shortages

Abstract

Purpose - Cookery has been identified as an occupation with skills shortages, at least in the developed world. There is currently a dearth of research into the cookery labour market, its occupational culture and characteristics. This paper seeks to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach - The study utilised a tracking approach to collate and investigate aspects of electronically-listed job advertisements for cookery-related vacancies in Australia's northern state of Queensland. Content analysis of advertised employment vacancies has previously been utilised as a method in tourism and hospitality research. Findings - The findings support the proposition that industry demand exceeds labour supply. Moreover, the content analysis of the vacancies' characteristics suggest that a range of job advertisement details, including remuneration, is infrequently supplied. Research limitations/implications - The study was limited in scope to cookery-related vacancies and to those advertised for Queensland. Accounting for vacancy duplications and consequential vacancies were the two key analytical challenges. Future research with refined instruments and more generalisable samples is invited. Originality/value - The study reveals that the increased electronicisation of information facilitates both the collection and generation of labour market research. Keywords Catering industry, Hospitality services, Tourism, Job vacancies, Skills shortages, Australia Paper type Research paper