The number of job vacancies in the hospitality sector hit 176,000 between April and June this year.
This was an increase of 10,200 on the previous quarter between January and March, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The accommodation and foodservices sector saw the largest rise in vacancies of any industry monitored by the ONS over the period.
Operators have told The Caterer they are still struggling to recruit despite raising salaries and offering more flexibility with shifts.
Some restaurants have had to reduce trading hours and cut items from their menus due to a shortage of team members.
ONS data showed there were 1.29m job vacancies across all areas of the UK economy between April and June this year.
There are 498,400 more roles left unfilled than compared to the last pre-pandemic period of January to March 2020, according to the ONS.
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