Hospitality Roles That Drive Retention: Room Attendants, Housekeepers, and Cooks

The strength of a property lives in the hands of its people. When your hospitality team feels equipped to do their work, the entire resort benefits. When those roles face constant turnover, even well-run spaces feel the strain.

Stability begins with understanding what workers need in order to stay and building roles that support long term success. Livable compensation and reliable day-to-day support help create the consistency that back of house teams rely on each day.

The Pressure Behind High Turnover

Many hotel and resort operators continue to face real challenges keeping back of house roles fully staffed. Industry surveys show that 65% of hotels are still experiencing staffing shortages, and housekeeping remains one of the hardest departments to hire for. These gaps place added pressure on the teams who are already working hard each day.

National labor data also shows that the leisure and hospitality sector has one of the highest quit rates in the workforce, often reaching 3 to 4% each month. This makes it difficult to maintain stable schedules and deliver the consistency guests expect.

These challenges show up quickly inside a property:

• Increased workload for remaining staff
• Higher hiring and training costs
• Gaps that disrupt service flow and slow down operations

Room attendants, dishwashers and hotel kitchen staff feel these pressures most. The work is fast paced, and when roles do not feel sustainable, workers often look for alternatives.

Why Livable Compensation Matters

Back of house roles set the pace for the entire property. When compensation matches the physical demands and expectations of these jobs, workers feel valued and are more likely to stay long enough to support consistent operations.

Pay that reflects the work contributes to stability by:

• Helping workers view roles as sustainable
• Encouraging steady attendance
• Strengthening performance through added confidence

When workers have pay they can depend on, they settle into their roles more easily and contribute to steadier day to day operations across the property

What Hospitality Workers Are Looking For

Back of house teams want roles that feel workable and predictable. When workers believe they can keep up with the pace, they gain confidence and begin to settle into the rhythm of the property.

The conditions that help workers stay long term include:

• Clear shift expectations
• Reasonable, well-structured workloads
• Support that helps them adjust to their environment

Clear expectations reinforce that stability. When teams understand how the day will flow and what is expected from the start, they perform better and adjust more quickly.

Support outside the shift matters too. Reliable transportation, consistent scheduling and help adjusting to a new environment reduce common barriers that lead to early exits. When workers feel grounded in both their role and their daily life, they are more likely to show up consistently and stay long term.

How Good Labor Jobs Supports Hospitality Staffing Needs

Good Labor Jobs helps hotels build teams through year round recruitment for room attendants, housekeepers, laundry attendants, stewards, cooks, dishwashers and food and beverage support.

GLJ’s approach removes many of the barriers that cause early turnover with:

• Fully documented and pre-screened workers
• Housing, transportation and relocation support
• Year long commitments that reduce repeated turnover cycles

This combination helps workers settle into their roles faster. As workers remain in their positions and become familiar with the property, teams build momentum and daily operations face fewer interruptions.

Building Stability for the Year Ahead

Staffing challenges will continue to shape the hospitality industry, especially in the roles that keep daily operations moving. Many of the pressures behind turnover can be eased when workers have the resources they need to stay.

Operators see the biggest improvements when they focus on:

• Fair compensation
• Clear expectations
• Reliable support

As a hospitality staffing agency, Good Labor Jobs brings these elements together to create stability for workers and reliable service for hotels. When teams feel grounded and confident in their roles, hotels gain the steadiness needed to operate without disruption and move through staffing challenges with greater confidence and resilience.

Stability is possible, even in high demand roles. Contact Us for help building dependable teams that keep your property running smoothly.