This project seeks to generate policy and practice guidelines to support the industry, businesses and employers in recruiting, retaining, and supporting the needs of older workers. Due to the growing ageing population and significant labour shortages in the hospitality sector, attracting and retaining older workers is increasingly becoming important. The study aims to extend understanding of the motivations and barriers to employment for older workers in the hospitality and tourism sector and to develop a useful framework on how to better support older workers and encourage them to enter and stay in the industry for longer periods.
Project Team
Dr Abigail Ehidiamen
Abigail is a Lecturer in Lincoln International Business School at the University of Lincoln, in the UK. She holds a PhD from the University of Huddersfield, UK and her research interest is in behavioural studies and consumer behaviour, marketing and society, sustainable consumption, branding, international marketing, and tourism.
Dr Danni Wang
Danni obtained her Ph.D. in Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Massachusetts. In addition, her master’s degree was completed at the University of Florida’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Event management program. She has obtained more than three years of university-level teaching experience as an instructor and teaching assistant in different hospitality and tourism courses including Lodging Operations Management, Human Resources Management for Hospitality Industry, and Hospitality and Tourism Leadership at UMass Amherst. Danni’s research interests include human resource management, organizational behavior, and AI applications in the hospitality and tourism industry. Her dedication for hospitality management research is reflected in her published articles in first-tier journals, such as International Journal of Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, and Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
Dr Agnieszka Rydzik
Dr Agnieszka Rydzik is Associate Professor in Tourism and Work at the University of Lincoln. Her research focuses on: i) employment relations and the future of work; ii) the gendered, racialised and precarious nature of work; iii) tourism and hospitality employment; and iv) hospitality, migration and welcome.
Agnieszka’s research is worker-centred and focused on making workplaces more inclusive. She has researched the employment experiences of migrant women in hospitality; experiences of women brewers; the implications of technology-driven transformations on lower-skilled tourism workers; socialisation of young workers through flexible hospitality work, and working students’ experiences of insecure employment. She has published in highly ranked journals, including Work, Employment and Society; Human Resource Management Journal; Annals of Tourism Research; and Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Her WES article on women brewers and identity work was nominated for the BSA’s SAGE Prize for Innovation and Excellence. She is currently co-editing (with Chanamuto and Chambers) a Special Issue of Hospitality & Society on ‘Migration, hospitality and belonging: Negotiating and enabling belonging in times of increasing inhospitality’.
Agnieszka is the founder of the Hospitality, Now! Students for Hospitality, Hospitality for Students initiative that engages business and education stakeholders, unions and policymakers in working together to bring change in working conditions for working students. In November 2023, together with industry partners, she launched the Good Student Employer Charter, which champions best practice in student employment.
