This article is part of Off to Work's 'The Future of Hospitality' series. The survey was completed in July/August 2020.

The global pandemic has been difficult for all of those working in the UK's hospitality sector. Our hospitality workers study aims to bring light to the way the workforce has been feeling in 2020, with key comparisons with the views of leaders and management within the industry.

Who are you and where are you from?

Given where the majority of hospitality roles are located it could be expected that 59.8% of all staff respondents said they were based in London, whilst three in five work in a company with more than 150 employees.

How would you describe changes to your current working situation since the pandemic?

With huge numbers of the UK workforce being enrolled in the government's Job Retention Scheme, and the general overnight closure of many hospitality businesses, the responses from staff reflect the sad reality that work opportunities have been extremely limited - with only 7.6% staff saying they have the same or more hours this year.

In our survey with management, they confirmed this with three in four responding saying they had furloughed more than 75% of their entire workforce.

If you haven't been working, how engaged do you feel you have been since being out of the business?

This global pandemic has been stretching even the most established HR operatives and solid owner/worker relationships. The speed and depth of the change has led to mistakes with staff, and leadership confronting a new reality they have to put all their efforts into. The consequence has been 26.5% of staff feeling incredible disengaged with their employers.

There is a slight disconnect between how management believe their staff are feeling, and the staff themselves, with a large underestimation from those in charge to the depth of disengagement. More than double the amount of the workforce says they are not engaged at all, than leadership believes.

How confident do you feel about returning to/continuing with work?

It's generally positive news coming from the workforce according to our results, with 57.1% of hospitality workers feeling confident about getting back to work. Unlike the previous question, management are underestimating staff who feel most confident about returning by more than three times!

How confident are you about the future of your company?

In a sign of a slight disconnect between leadership and workers, 60.3% of hospitality staff are confident about the future of their employer. It's a slight different story with management, who are much more pessimistic.

Based on your expectations, how much do you feel your company has supported you through this time?

From those we surveyed, 67.4% believed their company had supported them as expected or more through the pandemic, with nearly one in three disappointed with the level of support offered.

Unsurprisingly with questions which can encourage emotional responses, the two most popular choices were those at both extremes, with 37.9% of respondants saying their company's response had been much worse, or much better than expected.

To read the survey in full, including sections 'The Economic Impact of Covid-19', 'The Future of Hospitality', 'Health & Safety' and 'Recruitment & Retention'  click here.