The UK’s hospitality sector is facing one of the toughest recruitment landscapes in the country, according to new analysis from Funding Circle, the UK’s leading platform for SME lending.
With 112 applicants chasing every vacancy, hospitality roles are now among the most competitive jobs in the UK. For small businesses whether it’s a restaurant, café, bar, or hotel that means recruitment has become both a lifeline and a bottleneck, as owners struggle to cut through the volume of CVs to find the right skills.
The research, based on job search volumes and live vacancies across 14 sectors, highlights how businesses in retail, HR, and hospitality are being inundated with applications, often from overqualified or underqualified candidates leading to delays, inefficiencies, and increased recruitment pressure on small teams.
Key findings from the report:
- Hospitality: 470 vacancies vs. 52,800 annual searches.
- 112 applicants per role – just a 1% chance of securing a job for candidates.
- Retail jobs: 1,491 vacancies vs. 177,600 annual searches.
- 119 applicants per role – just a 1% chance of securing a job for candidates.
- HR roles: 924 vacancies, 129 applicants per role.
- By contrast, design (7 applicants/role) and IT (13 applicants/role) face talent shortages, giving candidates more negotiating power.
| Job Search | Search Monthly Volume (UK) | Annual Search Volume (UK) | Jobs in sector on Reed | Applicants per role | % chance of securing a role |
| HR Jobs | 9,900 | 118,800 | 924 | 129 | 1 |
| Retail Jobs | 14,800 | 177,600 | 1,491 | 119 | 1 |
| Hospitality Jobs | 4,400 | 52,800 | 470 | 112 | 1 |
| Admin Jobs | 9,900 | 118,800 | 2,427 | 49 | 2 |
| Marketing Jobs | 8,100 | 97,200 | 2,008 | 48 | 2 |
| Customer Service Jobs | 14,800 | 177,600 | 3,680 | 48 | 2 |
| Construction Jobs | 5,400 | 64,800 | 1,677 | 39 | 3 |
| Healthcare Jobs | 3,600 | 43,200 | 1,518 | 28 | 4 |
| Engineering Jobs | 5,400 | 64,800 | 3,177 | 20 | 5 |
| Sales Jobs | 5,400 | 64,800 | 3,267 | 20 | 5 |
| Finance Jobs | 5,400 | 64,800 | 3,573 | 18 | 6 |
| IT Jobs | 8,100 | 97,200 | 7,758 | 13 | 8 |
| Education Jobs | 3,600 | 43,200 | 3,549 | 12 | 8 |
| Law Jobs | 1,900 | 22,800 | 2,322 | 10 | 10 |
| Design Jobs | 1,900 | 22,800 | 3,361 | 7 | 15 |
Hospitality SMEs: too many CVs, too little time
The volume of applications means hospitality employers are often swamped with CVs from overqualified or underqualified applicants leading to delays in hiring, mismatched placements, and missed opportunities to fill roles that are essential to customer experience.
“Hospitality businesses thrive on people, front-of-house teams, chefs, cleaners, baristas, hotel staff—but the hiring process is becoming a major barrier,” said a Funding Circle spokesperson. “For small operators with no dedicated HR function, managing hundreds of applications for a single role isn’t just time-consuming—it risks slowing service delivery and stalling growth.”