Researching “older” hotel and restaurant workers: challenges and issues

Due to the changing demographic nature of the workforce and potential labour pool shortages in the hotel and restaurant industry, research needs to be undertaken into ‘older’ hotel and restaurant workers. It would be beneficial for the hotel and restaurant industry to employ more ‘older’ workers. Researching ‘older’ workers is extremely complex and there are three key areas that consist of challenges which researchers need to acknowledge and face. These are the areas of ageism and age discrimination; defining an ‘older’ worker; and perceived and subjective ageing. These challenges become ever more salient when researching ‘older’ workers within the hotel and restaurant industry. These challenges and issues require careful consideration and an explanation of the possible approaches to confront these and generate an understanding which will genuinely reflect ‘older’ workers in today’s society.