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Recognizing hotel employees on National Hotel Employee Day

September 01, 2023

September 1 is National Hotel Employee Day, which recognizes the workers who keep the nation’s approximately 65,000 hotels, motels, and other lodging establishments running smoothly. As the summer travel season draws to a close, we examine some of the jobs found in the traveler accommodation industry.

Employment in the largest occupations in the traveler accommodation industry, May 2022
Occupation Employment

Maids and housekeeping cleaners

364,990

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

223,840

Waiters and waitresses

107,530

Maintenance and repair workers, general

86,730

Cooks, restaurant

62,060

Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers

43,140

Gambling dealers

39,600

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

38,190

Bartenders

36,700

First-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workers

36,350

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

35,430

First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers

34,680

Lodging managers

33,430

Security guards

31,750

General and operations managers

25,000

Traveler accommodation industry employment was nearly 1.7 million in May 2022. Maids and housekeeping cleaners (364,990) and hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks (223,840) were the largest occupations in this industry. Together, these two occupations made up 35 percent of industry employment.

Several jobs related to food service were also among the largest occupations in the industry, including waiters and waitresses (107,530), restaurant cooks (62,060), and dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers (43,140). Outside of the food preparation and serving related occupational group, the largest occupations in the travel accommodation industry included general maintenance and repair workers (86,730) and gambling dealers (39,600).

Annual average wages for the largest occupations in the traveler accommodation industry, May 2022
Occupation Annual average wage

All occupations and industries

61,900

All occupations, traveler accommodation

39,730

Maids and housekeeping cleaners

31,070

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

30,150

Waiters and waitresses

33,750

Maintenance and repair workers, general

40,220

Cooks, restaurant

39,380

Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers

32,080

Gambling dealers

31,860

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

33,450

Bartenders

35,310

First-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workers

41,880

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

29,470

First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers

48,460

Lodging managers

72,910

Security guards

37,780

General and operations managers

90,940

The traveler accommodation industry had an annual average wage of $39,730, below the U.S. average of $61,900 for all industries combined. Of the 15 largest occupations in this industry, only lodging managers ($72,910) and general and operations managers ($90,940) had above-average wages. Several of the largest occupations in traveler accommodation had annual average wages of $40,000 per year or less, including maids and housekeeping cleaners ($31,070) and hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($30,150).

These data are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. For more information, see the OEWS data for traveler accommodation. The number of establishments in the travel accommodation industry represents 2021 annual data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Recognizing hotel employees on National Hotel Employee Day at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/recognizing-hotel-employees-on-national-hotel-employee-day.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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