The hospitality industry has always prided itself on reading the room. You know how to anticipate what a guest needs before they ask. You train your teams to adapt in real time to whoever walks through the door.
So here’s the question: Are you applying that same skill to your hiring process?
Right now, your open roles are likely attracting a 22-year-old who found you on TikTok, a 38-year-old Millennial who read your Glassdoor reviews before applying, a 52-year-old Gen Xer who heard about you from a colleague, and a 61-year-old Baby Boomer who picked up the phone and called. They all want to work in hospitality. They all bring real value. And they all have a completely different idea of what a great candidate experience looks like.
For the first time in modern history, four generations are actively in the workforce simultaneously. And in hospitality, that diversity is especially pronounced. As of 2020, Gen Z already accounted for 34% of the U.S. hospitality workforce. Today, roughly half of all current and near-future hospitality applicants are Gen Z.
And they’re applying differently. More than half of hospitality job applications are now submitted outside of standard business hours, and the majority are coming in from mobile devices. If your process wasn’t built for that, you’re already losing candidates before they ever meet you.
But Gen Z isn’t the whole story. The industry is navigating the retirement of Baby Boomers (who are also taking their institutional knowledge with them) while Millennials move into leadership and Gen X holds the backbone of management. The workforce spans every generation, and so should your approach to hiring them.
Let’s get into it.
The Stakes in Hospitality Are High
Hotels and restaurants still report annual turnover between 70 and 80 percent. QSR roles frequently exceed 100 percent. Even with employment recovering to near pre-pandemic levels overall, 65% of U.S. hotels reported staffing shortages at year-end 2024 — down from 76% in May, but still an industry in a constant recruiting cycle.
As Hireology Co-Founder & CEO Adam Robinson put it in AHLA’s 2025 survey report: “We must prioritize career mobility and create clear paths for advancement to truly attract and retain the workforce we need.”
That insight applies to every generation in your pipeline – differently.
Part One: The Candidate Experience, Generation by Generation
Gen Z: Show Them the Future Before They Apply
Gen Z grew up watching the hospitality industry get hammered by COVID. They saw family members lose jobs overnight. Many took roles in hospitality themselves and then watched those roles disappear. Research from Randstad shows their average job tenure in the first five years of their career is just 1.1 years — compared to 2.8 years for Gen X at the same career stage. That’s not laziness. That’s rational self-protection.
“For a generation that grew up in pandemic times, hospitality doesn’t feel as stable. Tackling this negative perception is crucial.”
What does that mean for your hiring process?
They need to see a path, not just a paycheck.
Gen Z candidates are asking about growth early because they need to know the job leads somewhere. Hospitality has an extraordinary story to tell here — front desk agents become revenue managers, line cooks become executive chefs, sales coordinators become GMs. But if you’re not telling that story during the hiring process, they assume it doesn’t exist.
Mobile-first is non-negotiable.
They’re applying from their phones, late at night, between shifts at another job. A clunky, multi-step application process loses them before they ever meet you. More than half of hospitality applications are now submitted outside standard business hours. Your process needs to match their schedule, not the other way around.
Social proof matters enormously.
Gen Z almost universally checks a company’s social media before applying. Your Instagram and LinkedIn aren’t just marketing, they’re your recruiting pitch. If your online presence doesn’t show real employees, real culture, real stories of people growing within your organization, you’ve already lost the room.
Values alignment is a filter, not a bonus.
69% of Gen Z candidates want to work for companies that share their values. 77% say diversity and inclusion is a non-negotiable factor. These aren’t soft preferences, they’re the criteria by which this generation screens employers out.
One more thing: don’t underestimate the role AI plays in their job search. As of mid-2025, nearly half of Gen Z job seekers had used AI tools in their search. But 29.5% have never used AI and don’t plan to. The “digital native” label flattens a generation that’s actually quite varied.
Millennials: They’ve Done Their Research. Have You?
Millennials are now the largest generational segment in the U.S. workforce at roughly 35%, and the largest in hospitality management. The oldest among them are in their mid-40s, many holding GM, director, and senior leadership roles. They are simultaneously your candidates AND the people doing your hiring.
As candidates, they are sophisticated evaluators. They’ve lived through the financial crisis, the gig economy explosion, and a global pandemic. They know the difference between an employer who actually invests in people and one that just says so in the job description.
Deloitte’s 2025 Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey of more than 23,000 respondents found this generation prioritizes learning, development, and career progression — but they’re less interested in climbing the corporate ladder than in finding the right balance of money, meaning, and well-being.
“94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development.”
What they want in your hospitality hiring process:
Authenticity over polish.
They’ve seen too many generic employer brands to be impressed by one. They want the real story of what it’s like to work in your property or your restaurant group. Real employees, real advancement stories, real culture, not stock photos and mission statements.
Flexibility as a real offer, not a talking point.
Millennials have the highest preference for remote and hybrid work of any generation. In hospitality, full remote isn’t always possible, but schedule flexibility, predictable hours, and work-life respect go a long way. If you can offer it, say so clearly. If you can’t, be honest about that too.
A process that doesn’t ghost them.
Ghosting by employers is the top frustration across all generations, and for Millennials, how you treat candidates during hiring directly reflects how you treat employees. A slow, unresponsive process signals exactly what kind of employer you’ll be.
Gen X: Respect the Experience. Skip the Theater.
Gen X gets overlooked in most generational workplace conversations. Speaking as a Gen X’er myself, we seem to caught in the middle while everyone else gets the headlines. But Gen X represents about 33% of the American workforce and a disproportionate share of hospitality’s mid- and senior-management positions. They are, as one industry analysis put it, “the bridge between older and younger colleagues, translating between different communication styles and work approaches.”
As candidates, they are pragmatic, self-reliant, and deeply experienced. They don’t need their hand held through the process, but they do need to feel like their depth is recognized. IYKYK.
What they want in your hospitality hiring process:
Substance over spectacle.
A flashy hiring campaign or an overly trendy application process can feel dismissive to someone with 20 years of hospitality experience. They want a clear, direct process that respects their time and treats them as the senior professional they are.
Clear role expectations and real authority.
Gen X candidates want to understand the scope of the role, the level of decision-making authority they’ll have, and how success will be measured. Vague job descriptions that are heavy on “culture” and light on actual responsibilities lose them fast.
Recognition of their knowledge transfer value.
As Baby Boomers retire from hospitality, they’re taking institutional knowledge with them. Gen X is uniquely positioned to absorb and transmit that knowledge to younger generations (and the best candidates in this group know it). Your hiring process should reflect that you know it too.
On AI in their job search: 62.6% of Gen X had not yet used AI tools in their job search as of 2025, but 39.1% of that group planned to soon. The transition is underway.
Baby Boomers: Don’t Count Them Out
Baby Boomers are moving toward retirement, but many are still very much in the game. In hospitality, this matters enormously. They hold a significant share of senior leadership positions, carry deep guest-relations expertise built over decades, and in many cases are the connective tissue between a property’s history and its future.
They’re also being pushed out in ways that aren’t always visible. According to AARP’s 2025 research, 74% of Americans ages 50 and older believe their age could be a barrier to getting hired. A hospitality industry that struggles to fill roles and then overlooks experienced candidates because of implicit age bias is leaving talent on the table it can’t afford to lose.
Baby Boomers aren’t the least flexible generation. Data shows they may be more open to career changes than commonly assumed — and more willing to take on part-time, consulting, or transitional roles.
What they want in your hospitality hiring process:
Human connection from the start.
Boomers are the most networking-dependent generation in the job search — 32.8% found their last role through personal connections. LinkedIn is their top social channel. A hiring process that meets them where they are, with real human contact early, wins their trust.
Respect for their expertise in the process itself.
If a Baby Boomer with 30 years in hospitality management has to wade through a process clearly designed for entry-level applicants, they will walk. Make sure your process signals from the start that you know who they are and what they bring.
Clarity about what the role actually is.
Clear responsibilities, structured expectations, and meaningful contribution — especially if you’re considering part-time, consulting, or phased-retirement arrangements, which are increasingly common and increasingly valuable in hospitality.
