The crisis in hospitality is no longer a matter of numbers, but of meaning. In this talk, Davide Bernasconi shifts the focus from labor shortage to labor retention, showing how the real issue lies in the quality of the work being offered. Within this context, technology does not emerge as a threat, but as a lever to reduce friction, give time back, and make the profession sustainable again. It is not hospitality itself that is at risk, but a certain way of practicing it.
From labor shortage to labor retention: a necessary shift in perspective
A crisis that is no longer merely numerical
One quarter of workers who left hospitality after the pandemic are not willing to return. This is not an interpretative figure; it is a statement, documented in the US Job Market Report. Job openings have increased by 23 percent from pre-pandemic levels, yet actual employment has grown by only 12 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Europe, 1.2 million positions remain unfilled, a gap that materializes in uncleaned rooms, closed restaurants, and reduced services. Even in institutions that shape the next generation of professionals, such as the École Hôtelière de Lausanne, half of graduates move into other sectors, from luxury retail to consulting, from finance to asset management.These numbers are not just indicators; they are open wounds. They reveal that hospitality is no longer perceived as a space of opportunity but as an environment that extracts energy without offering a sufficient return. This is not only a matter of labor shortage, but it is also, more profoundly, a matter of labor retention. The issue is no longer finding people willing to work in hotels, but understanding how to convince those already there to remain.
The end of the sacrifice narrative
For decades, the industry has sustained itself on a narrative that equated sacrifice with passion. Endless shifts, sleepless nights, and twelve or fourteen-hour days were accepted as the implicit cost of belonging to a world described as exceptional. The pandemic dismantled this narrative. It revealed the possibility of alternative ways of living, of having time for oneself and for one’s family, of constructing a life not entirely absorbed by work. Those who experienced this possibility no longer accept the idea of relinquishing it.
The real scarcity is the willingness to stay
What has become scarce is not human capital in the abstract, but the willingness of individuals to commit themselves to a sector that appears to demand everything while offering too little in return. If the system continues to respond by insisting that “people are missing” without questioning why they are leaving, the trajectory will inevitably decline.
Technology as a lever of transformation
The conversation must evolve. It is no longer sufficient to lament the exodus of workers; the conditions that make them stay must be constructed. It is within this space that technology assumes relevance, not as a threat, nor as a substitute, nor as a machine that displaces the human. That narrative belongs to a superficial reading, often reinforced by fear. When designed with intent, technology does not eliminate the human dimension. It removes waste, inefficiency, and the accumulation of small daily frictions that gradually erode the meaning of the work itself.
The operational impact of data
Data generated through systems such as Hoxell illustrate this dynamic. Where the platform has been implemented, internal calls have decreased by 75 percent, paper usage has effectively disappeared, breakfast waste has been reduced by 15 percent, and approximately one hour of work per day has been saved solely in linen counting. Maintenance issues are reported more frequently and resolved more rapidly, guest complaints have decreased by 30 percent, and cleaning times per room have been reduced by 20 percent. These figures do not merely describe efficiency gains; they describe a transformation in the experience of work, making it lighter, more manageable, and less alienating.
Time returned to the relationship
Each minute removed from repetitive tasks becomes a minute returned to the relationship with the guest, to the craft of hospitality, to the sense of purpose embedded in the role. Technology, in this framing, becomes a form of digital co-worker, not a cold instrument of digitization but a presence that supports and relieves. In a market where salaries are often constrained by collective agreements and limited margins, differentiation will increasingly depend on the quality of work that an organization can offer.
Work as a competitive factor
A receptionist, a housekeeper, or a chef will no longer choose solely on the basis of salary. They will gravitate toward environments that enable them to work more effectively. It is not difficult to imagine a near future in which candidates ask, during interviews, which digital tools are in place to support daily operations. The selection dynamic begins to invert. It is no longer only the company evaluating the candidate, but the candidate evaluating the company through the lens of its technological maturity. Technology becomes a form of organizational benefit, a tangible signal that the company invests in people, not only in profit.
Beyond superficial digitization
This shift carries structural implications. Digitization cannot be reduced to the translation of paper processes into digital interfaces. It requires rethinking, not replicating. It implies augmentation, not substitution. It demands a shift from cost reduction to talent retention. Mediocrity becomes unsustainable in a context where fewer individuals are willing to accept any condition for the sake of employment, and where the most capable will leave if not given the space to express their potential. The hospitality that endures will be the one capable of offering tools that elevate the quality of daily work, improve work-life balance, and even what could be defined as work-work balance, the intrinsic quality of the work experience itself.
Technology and humanity
There is a paradox at the core of this transformation. It does not threaten the human; it safeguards it. As argued by thinkers such as Stefano Moriggi and Gianluca Nicoletti, technology does not dehumanize; it rehumanizes by relieving us from operations that compress our cognitive and emotional space, and by returning time and energy to what matters. Those who work in hospitality do not ask to be replaced; they ask to be supported. They do not expect technology to take their place, but to remove what has no value, allowing them to focus on what no machine can replicate: welcoming, listening, understanding, and creating meaningful experiences.
A necessary paradigm shift
If in 2023, 2024, and 2025 the industry has been dominated by the discourse of labor shortage, 2026 marks the need for a conceptual shift. The central question is no longer who is missing, but who remains. Not the quantity of staff, but the quality of their experience and their ability to endure over time.The future of hospitality will depend on the capacity to retain, not merely to recruit. It will depend on recognizing that technology is not a cost, but an investment in human capital. It will depend on abandoning the rhetoric of sacrifice and embracing that of balance.Only then can it be said that automation has not diminished hospitality. It has merely removed mediocrity.Davide Bernasconi