The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the not-for-profit affiliate of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA), recently released its highly anticipated 2004 Turnover and Diversity in the Lodging Industry. Commissioned by AH&LA’s Multicultural and Diversity Advisory Council (MDAC), the study provides a snapshot of turnover and diversity among lodging line-level, supervisory, and managerial employees, and expands upon past research to better quantify the bottom line impact of diversity within the U.S. lodging industry. A total of 2,048 properties returned the survey, yielding a 26.5 percent response rate.

In an effort to identify and measure demographic turnover characteristics across selected variables, the study shows that of the employees terminated in 2004, 88.5 percent were hourly-level terminations, 1.9 percent were line-level supervisory positions, and 9.6 percent were at the managerial level. As for gender, 61.1 percent of the terminations were female and 38.9 percent were male. Regarding ethnicity, 45.9 percent of the terminations were Caucasian, 24.2 percent were Hispanic, and 23.8 percent were African American. Conversely, of those employees acquired, 67.8 percent were female and 32.2 percent were male. The study’s findings also show that 55.8 percent of managerial hires were female, while 44.2 percent were male. Female managers were more often hired in the rooms, sales and marketing, and human resource departments, while males more often were hired in food and beverage, finance, engineering, and safety and security departments. Hire percentages for general managers were almost evenly distributed with 50.3 percent female and 49.7 percent male. In the hourly employee level, 42.4 percent of the 2004 recruits were Caucasian, 25.8 percent were Hispanic, and 25.2 percent were African American.

In addition, the study reveals that gender profiles of all lodging employees take a turn with women in the forefront: 52.2 percent of all hourly employees were female and 47.8 percent were male. And, 68 percent of all line-level supervisors were female and 32 percent were male. However, male salaried managers overwhelmingly outnumber women salaried managers—66.3 percent and 33.7 percent respectively.

Regarding ethnicity profiles of all lodging employees, 39 percent of all hourly employees were Caucasian, 28.5 percent were Hispanic, and 23.8 percent were African American. In the line-level supervisory positions, 41 percent were Caucasian, 28.2 percent were Hispanic, and 20.3 percent were African American. At the managerial level, 73.3 percent were Caucasian, 10.3 percent were Asian, 7 percent were African American, and 6.5 percent were Hispanic.

“It is imperative for the lodging industry to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex industry serving an increasingly diverse customer base. This study solidifies the need to attract, empower, and retain the best mix of talent,” said Joseph A. McInerney, CHA, AH&LA president and CEO. “By current projections, the U.S. lodging industry will require more than 700,000 additional employees by 2010. It is our hope that this research will lead hoteliers and industry investors toward building a sustainable multicultural and inclusion program to be included in every lodging industry business model.”

Originally published in 1997, the updated study was conducted by The University of Houston’s Hospitality Industry Diversity Institute (HIDI).

To order a copy of the 2004 Turnover and Diversity in the Lodging Industry, call the Educational Institute at (800) 752-4567 or visit www.ei-ahla.org. The study is available to AH&LA members for $35 and nonmembers for $60 and is available free of charge for members to download through AH&LA's Members Only section at www.ahla.com.