Catering and hospitality recruiters could be in for a busy time as a new survey indicates that a high proportion of waiting, pub and bar staff are looking to move jobs.

The report from the hospitality industry website caterer.com shows that 79% of waiting staff are seeking a new position, compared with 69% of pub and bar staff, 69% of workers in food and beverage and 68% of those working in conference and banqueting catering.

Once they’re in a new job, waiting staff aren’t likely to hang around for long, either. The average length of stay is one and a half years, with two-thirds admitting they’d been with their current employer for less than a year.

Reasons for moving include a perceived lack of promotion prospects and training.

Only those further up the food chain such as directors, human resources and marketing personnel are happy to stay in their jobs for longer. For example, 19% of hotel managers have been with their employers for more than 10 years.

Elice Davies, chair of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s hospitality division, said recruitment agencies could help to address retention by taking a more educative and customer-oriented role. “If an agency finds itself continually filling the same job, they should talk to the client and ask them why,” she suggested.