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How Do Hospitality Workers Perceive Their Work Skills before and after the Lockdown Imposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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  • Carla Magalhães

    (Transdisciplinary Research Center on Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (TRIEE), Faculty of Economic, Social and Business Sciences (FCESE), Lusofona University, 4000-098 Porto, Portugal)

  • Arthur Araújo

    (Transdisciplinary Research Center on Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (TRIEE), Faculty of Economic, Social and Business Sciences (FCESE), Lusofona University, 4000-098 Porto, Portugal)

  • Maria Isabel Andrés-Marques

    (Transdisciplinary Research Center on Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (TRIEE), Faculty of Economic, Social and Business Sciences (FCESE), Lusofona University, 4000-098 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

The present research aims to compare hospitality workers’ confidence about the perceived need to improve their soft and hard skills during and after the lockdown period. With this purpose, a questionnaire was applied to a sample of workers from four- and five-star hotels located in the historic centre of Porto (Portugal). Data collection took place in two different time periods: April 2020 and April 2022. The findings evidence that workers are more confident of their skills but are also more aware of the need to develop them, particularly their soft skills. This is likely related to the context of remote work, which intensified the need to learn, and evidenced the necessity of skills such as teamwork and adaptation or flexibility, which showed the greatest increase in perceived need to improve. Despite such an increase, the competencies workers feel like they need to improve the most are still hard, i.e., linguistic and digital. Accordingly, those in which workers are the most confident are soft, i.e., teamwork, interpersonal relationships, and adaptation or flexibility, which is likely because those were the most developed during the pandemic. The findings provide useful insights for human resources management in the hospitality sector. The study points to good practices aiming to address the real development needs of hospitality workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Carla Magalhães & Arthur Araújo & Maria Isabel Andrés-Marques, 2022. "How Do Hospitality Workers Perceive Their Work Skills before and after the Lockdown Imposed by the COVID-19 Pandemic?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-14, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:12:p:588-:d:1008152
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Barry, John W. & Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Ma, Yueran, 2022. "Corporate flexibility in a time of crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 780-806.
    3. John W. Barry & Murillo Campello & John Graham & Yueran Ma, 2022. "Corporate Flexibility in a Time of Crisis," NBER Working Papers 29746, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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