IT ’ S LIKELY THAT FEW INDUSTRIES can match the spa industry when it comes to the particular challenges it faces regarding its workforce needs . ISPA research indicates that as of 2019 , the number of unfilled service provider positions in the U . S . spa industry alone was roughly 28,000 , split about evenly between full- and part-time employees . Though it is as yet unclear what effect the losses and possible attrition suffered by the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic have had on that figure , it stands to reason that the talent shortage has only become more pronounced in the last 14 months or so .
Representatives from Bryght conduct a demonstration with students ( and potential future employees ).
Massage therapist positions made up the largest portion of the shortage reported in 2019 , comprising more than 17,000 ( 8,320 full-time ) of the unfilled spots . Estheticians accounted for about 7,000 unfilled positions ( 3,980 full-time ), followed by nail technicians with just over 4,000 ( 1,810 full-time ). Given the total number of estimated positions in the industry at that point , unfilled positions represent about seven-and-a-half percent of the entire spa ( not only service provider ) workforce .
By any measure , the sheer volume of unfilled positions in the spa industry is an issue that spa leaders are eager to address . ISPA ’ s own recognition of this truth led to the planning of a Talent Symposium event originally scheduled for April of 2020 before being canceled due to the pandemic . In the year-plus since , spa leaders around the world have grappled with a host of new and unforeseen pandemic-related challenges , and questions revolving around the talent pipeline and industry workforce have been , if not set aside entirely , then at least moved to the back burner while these new issues commanded more attention .
But as the proverbial light at the end of the pandemic tunnel comes into view , the spa industry is once again ready to confront those workforce challenges head-on . One of those challenges is simply assessing the state of the spa industry workforce at this stage of the pandemic to determine where things stand after more than a year of closures , reopenings , staff reductions and attrition . If what Kelleye Martin , ISPA board treasurer and spa director at The Edgewater Spa , has seen holds true for the industry at large , the talent landscape may be even tougher to navigate than before the pandemic .
“ I actually think this is worse than pre-pandemic for staffing ,” Martin says .“ I think a lot of people have just left the industry , not just in spa , but in hospitality in general because we ’ re facing this all over our property . I mean , I definitely need massage therapists and nail techs , which I always have , but we would get applicants that would trickle in pre-pandemic , but now we ’ re not — it ’ s like a ghost
JUNE 2021 ■ PULSE 15