Cultural diversity in hospitality work

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the growing importance of migrant workers to the hospitality industry of peripheral locations in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on data collected through in-depth surveys of and focus group discussions with migrant workers in hotels in three peripheral locations in the UK. Findings – Findings point to varied experiences for international workers in terms of recruitment and selection of international workers; their work-related and social integration within the workforce and the wider community; aspirations for training and development among international employees; insights into the futures that migrant workers see for themselves; and their overall experience of living and working in the UK. Research limitations/implications – The study is located in three regions of the UK and each study is of relatively small scale. This is a potential limitation but compensation is afforded by the depth of information collected in each location. Practical implications – The study suggests that employers are unwilling to invest in the development of international staff who have high levels of general education and training that is not sector specific. Promotion opportunities are seen to be limited. The paper points to the need for hospitality management to make more effective use of this source of labour. Originality/value – This paper is the first to undertake a study of the migrant worker experience in peripheral areas of the UK and to focus on a diverse skills sector such as hospitalit

Cultural diversity in hospitality work: a comparative study of peripheral locations in the United Kingdom

International workers are a growing category of employees in the hospitality industry of peripheral regions of the United Kingdom. The retention and skills shortages of the industry are significant factors in facilitating this increase. Thus, international workers are an important new source of labour for the hospitality industry, but providing an appropriate working, developmental and living environment for these employees is a challenge for the sector. While labour migration in the hospitality sector is by no means a new phenomenon within major urban centres in Australia, Europe and north America, recent trends in Ireland as well as in Scotland and the English Lake District point to the recruitment of international workers to positions in peripheral locations, representing a significant new development in work but also social relations and integration terms. Little is known, however, about the background (educational, professional, demographic) of people choosing to move to Northern Ireland, the Lake District and Scotland to take up work in the hospitality industry. This paper sets out to answer some of the “unknowns” - including nationality, other demographic characteristics, educational, employment; economic background and motivation in choosing to work in the hospitality sectors of these three locations. The paper draws on data collected through in-depth surveys of migrant workers in hotels in these peripheral locations. The findings focus on issues of recruitment and selection of international workers; their work-related and social integration within the workforce and the wider community; aspirations for training and development among international employees; and insights into the futures that migrant workers see for themselves

Foundations of Game-based Learning Fall 2019: Course Notes

This course notes posted as Alam, M. I., Aleman, E., Ausenhus, A., Bonner, D., Devine, E., Dreessen, V., ...Vo, V. (2019). In L. Nadolny (Ed.), Foundations of game-based learning: Fall 2019 [Course notes]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mnJewlE2v5caJnLaAfwcRGt9Ww0t93dtoiDoEA9PzZo/edit?usp=sharing. Posted with permission. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License