technology and become even more reliant on that and find ways to automate . There ’ s going to have to be some real creativity and innovation in order to close that workers gap .”
SHOW THEM THE MONEY ? The types of technology-driven treatment options that Helps mentioned would likely represent a departure from the approaches that some spas take to their service menu , but if there was a theme of this Town Hall discussion , it was that spas may have to interrogate some of their traditional practices to overcome the challenges of the current labor market .
Chief among those elements ripe for evaluation is spas ’ approach to compensation . As Brenda Helps shared , those seeking jobs in the spa and hospitality industries know that they are in demand , and they expect to be compensated accordingly .“ We ’ re all getting a big reality check because hospitality has traditionally paid so much less than other industries ,” Helps said .“ The labor shortage is forcing companies to push wages up . Good candidates don ’ t want to be low-balled ; they want to feel valued and wanted from the get-go . Make sure that your offer is competitive and that you ’ re leading with the best offer right out of the gate .”
As both Shane Bird and Claudia Wyatt noted , however , raising compensation levels has not led to a corresponding increase in qualified applicants at their spas . Bird ’ s spa has raised service prices and fees at his spa to cover compensation increases , but offering higher wages has not increased the flow of applicants , even for full-time massage therapist positions with full benefits packages . Similarly , the higher commission rates and hourly wages Wyatt ’ s spa began offering in the previous couple of months didn ’ t bring with them a rush of candidates . The puzzling lack of applicants may be attributable to the high rates of attrition Wyatt said that she has observed among massage therapists who once worked in the area but have left the profession during the pandemic . It ’ s also possible that , as Bird posited , in addition to fewer active therapists filling the market , more therapists are choosing to work outside the confines of a spa .
According to the American Massage Therapy Association ( AMTA ), nearly
three quarters of massage therapists ( 72 percent ) describe themselves as “ sole practitioners ” and just 20 percent work in a spa ( a further four percent work in a hotel , resort or cruise setting ). This is despite spas being named by consumers as the place they most frequently get a massage . So , if even a small portion of therapists who previously worked in spas left the practice altogether or else left spas to practice individually , it could explain why the shortage seems even more dire than it was prior to the pandemic .
A CULTURED APPROACH If raising compensation levels is not , then , a cure-all for the industry ’ s workforce woes , spas will need to find other ways to attract candidates . However , as Ann Tucker of Woodstock Inn & Resort
“ We have to be flexible … and find what a candidate can bring to the table and not have to have them check all of our boxes .”
— ANN TUCKER
50 PULSE ■ SEPTEMBER 2021