Article
Meaningful work
Going the extra mile to re-staff an industry in recovery
When the entire world was put on pause by the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada's tourism industry checked out indefinitely. Hotels, once the heartbeat of travel and leisure, faced an existential crisis. What does the landscape of Canada’s hotel industry look like post-pandemic? With labour shortages rising and operational efficiency falling, a new vision for the industry was essential.
That had us asking: Could the human touch element so critical to the industry be the key to unlocking its future workforce?
Unpacking the employment gap
At Deloitte, we see work with purpose as fundamental to our organization. With Canada's hotel industry struggling to keep its doors open, we saw an opportunity to collaborate with the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) to address critical labour shortages. What’s more, we were able to help connect an industry in recovery with its human-centered purpose again.
By 2023, a workforce shortage left Canada’s tourism industry 200,000 roles short, leaving many hotels unable to operate at full capacity. Our research, including over 40 rounds of interviews with industry leaders and global insights, resulted in a roadmap to recovery. We laid the foundation for a full house with over 90 actionable recommendations focused on attracting talent, transforming job perceptions, and cutting vacancy rates.
But let's zoom out.
How does work like this match our purpose to make an impact that matters?
We talked to Katie Rochon, one of Deloitte Canada’s workforce transformation managers, to shed some light on this question.
“Unpacking the post-COVID landscape required a whole new way of thinking about the talent market, but as the world changed, so did we. Partnering with HAC, we brought a holistic, people-first approach to understanding and addressing the needs and desires of the modern workforce, and were able to create something truly meaningful for both talent and communities as a whole."
"Together, we highlighted and contextualized macro trends to help organizations in HAC understand how to make better decisions within their control. Our end goal? To encourage the industry to adopt strategies that create better employment opportunities for Canadians."
At Deloitte, we believe a job is more than just a means to an end—it shapes who we are.
To turn the workplace into a place of growth and success, we must rethink what work means from a human perspective and foster spaces where people can truly shine.
"Shifting workforce dynamics helped reinforce our responsibility at Deloitte to guide organizations in creating work that matters. In aiming to drive change, not just in the tourism industry—but across all sectors—we must prepare and adapt for future workforces. Luckily, we're here to help bring this vision to life."
"At the end of the day, our mission is to make work better for humans and humans better for work. Together with HAC, this project showed that Deloitte is fundamentally a people business, and by focusing on the human aspects of work, we understand the importance of jobs in shaping individual identity and community well-being to create environments where people can really thrive."
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Big questions demand big solutions. Join us as we unpack some of Canada's biggest challenges on Full Circle, our new podcast that dives deep into the issues shaping our future. With insights from experts, innovators, and people with perspective, Full Circle goes beyond surface-level discussions to explore ideas that challenge the status quo. Listen to a no-holds-barred conversation on everything from the everyday to the extraordinary and get a head start on bringing the conversation Full Circle.
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