Employee Sentiment Study

A key pillar of RTO12’s Regenerative Strategy is the development of a Regional Tourism Data Hub, which will collect ongoing and timely intelligence regarding the overall health of the tourism industry. This data is particularly important as the RTO12 launches programs to help the tourism industry and communities recover and rebuild with long-term sustainability front and centre

An online dashboard has been conceived to track business confidence, labour gaps & shortages, employee sentiment, resident sentiment, visitor sentiment and, eventually, environmental impact. A series of surveys will be launched to gather the benchmark intelligence to create the dashboard, which will be hosted on the RTO12 administrative site

This report presents the outcome of the first phase of a survey of tourism workers in RTO 12 about their feelings toward employment in the local tourism industry.  The objective of this survey is to gauge their level of satisfaction in their roles and to identify potential areas of concern that might be addressed to overcome the labour shortage in the region

We recommend repeating this survey on an annual basis to track changes in sentiment over time, especially as key planks in RTO 12’s BOP are executed

Executive Summary

The objective of this survey is to gauge their level of satisfaction in their roles and to identify potential areas of concern that might be addressed to overcome the labour shortage in the region. The survey sample included 95 current workers, 75 past workers and 165 potential workers

Despite the concerns voiced about working in the sector, just over 40% of respondents have worked in it for more than 15 years

Current workers seem to be very happy with their tourism job, with 72% saying they are very satisfied

That said, only 54%of current workers say they earn a living wage

A majority of current workers (66%) would recommend their employer to others. Past workers, however, are much less enthusiastic, with only 29% saying they would do the same. Net Promoter Score (NPS) for employers (top 3 box minus bottom 3 box scores) is 64 for current workers (good) and just 1 for past workers

Even though they would recommend their employer, less than half (46%) of current workers would recommend a job in the tourism sector. For past workers, that percentage drops to 36%. The NPS for employment in tourism (top 3 box minus bottom 3 box) is 38 for current worker and 28 for past workers

When asked why they made the recommendation they did, the most common response was that employment in the sector does not provide a living wage

Good relations with co-workers, schedule flexibility and proximity of employment topped the list of things current and past workers liked MOST about their job

When it comes to the list of things current and past workers liked LEAST about their job, the top three factors were all financial – insufficient wages, the high cost of living / not earning a living wage and the lack of affordable housing

Potential workers in tourism say that good pay, good relations with management / co-workers, proximity to where they live are cited most often when asked what would attract them. Almost half also said affordable housing would be increase their interest in a tourism role

For this respondents 18-34, when it comes to improving their job, better pay is far less important than it is for older workers. They also want more flexibility in their schedules and empowerment to make decisions.

Similarly, when it comes to improving their work environment, younger respondents say clear and effective communications, a mechanism for airing grievances, employee empowerment and recognition are all more important than they are for older workers

Barely a quarter of respondents say they would relocate for a tourism job. Not a surprising result given the industry perception of paying low wages