Poor pay is leading to staff shortages across the spa industry as we exploit our caring, largely female workforce. The spa industry can take a lead in fighting this insidious gender pay gap
By Liz Terry | Published in Spa Business 2018 issue 2
Caring women are the most ‘exploitable’ workers / Wavebreakmedia /shutterstock
Congratulations to ISPA on the publication of its first piece of research into careers and employment in the spa market. The recently published ISPA Spa Workforce report was carried out by Colin McIlheney of PricewaterhouseCoopers and is covered in our feature on page 44.
First the good news and as if we didn’t know already, the report confirms the industry attracts committed, caring people.
McIlheney says “The overwhelming majority of [therapists] are passionate about providing exceptional client service and would like to have a long-term career in the industry”.
The study also found they stick to the same employer far more than expected, saying: “Almost 80 per cent expect to be working in their current organisation 12 months from now. This challenges another traditional belief that many spa professionals are actively seeking a new job.”
Set against this, however, researchers found long hours, poor pay, less than great management, lack of training and pressure to be responsible for retail upselling are seen as issues.
Importantly, more than 50 per cent of therapists surveyed said their pay does not fairly reflect their contribution and this goes to the heart of why – as McIlheney notes – there are more than 32,000 vacancies for spa therapists in the US alone.
Fundamentally, this is discrimination against women. Research shows that when women take up an occupation, pay levels fall and when men enter a profession, they increase.
Prof Paula England, co-author of Occupational Feminization and Pay says once women start doing a job, “It just doesn’t look like it’s as important to the bottom line or requires as much skill and gender bias sneaks into [pay] decisions”. She also found jobs involving caregiving pay less, even after controlling for the disproportionate share of female workers.
So we’re sitting on the cusp of these two forces – we employ caring women and it’s clear we’re exploiting them.
We’re not the only industry to face this challenge, but we are one of the only ones which profess to want to make the world a better place and to create happiness and wellbeing for all, so let’s start in our own back yard with fair pay for our workers.
Wouldn’t it be great if sometime soon academics were writing research papers showing how the spa industry became the first sector to reverse this insidious gender pay gap?
It would have the added benefit of attracting more people and imagine how profitable we’d be if we filled all those vacancies?
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2018 issue 2
People profile: Garrett Mersberger
Garrett Mersberger on the overhaul of Kohler Waters’ flagship spa in Europe, plus his vision for ISPA following his appointment as chair of the association
Spa programmes: On the menu
Underwater yoga, healing breathwork and genetics all feature in Spa Business’ brand new series revealing the latest treatments, programmes and retreats in spas
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSysteme
Cold therapy is suddenly all the rage, but Zimmer MedizinSysteme’s icelab takes it a step further, creating a cold sauna for the whole body. Rainer Bolsinger explains more about this cutting-edge therapy
Promotional feature: The Tides: pure Dutch nature inside
Modern living might be tough on our minds and bodies, but newly-launched Dutch wellness and self-care brand The Tides offers just the antidote with a new class of pure, raw products and treatments
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Poor pay is leading to staff shortages across the spa industry as we exploit our caring, largely female workforce. The spa industry can take a lead in fighting this insidious gender pay gap
By Liz Terry | Published in Spa Business 2018 issue 2
Caring women are the most ‘exploitable’ workers / Wavebreakmedia /shutterstock
Congratulations to ISPA on the publication of its first piece of research into careers and employment in the spa market. The recently published ISPA Spa Workforce report was carried out by Colin McIlheney of PricewaterhouseCoopers and is covered in our feature on page 44.
First the good news and as if we didn’t know already, the report confirms the industry attracts committed, caring people.
McIlheney says “The overwhelming majority of [therapists] are passionate about providing exceptional client service and would like to have a long-term career in the industry”.
The study also found they stick to the same employer far more than expected, saying: “Almost 80 per cent expect to be working in their current organisation 12 months from now. This challenges another traditional belief that many spa professionals are actively seeking a new job.”
Set against this, however, researchers found long hours, poor pay, less than great management, lack of training and pressure to be responsible for retail upselling are seen as issues.
Importantly, more than 50 per cent of therapists surveyed said their pay does not fairly reflect their contribution and this goes to the heart of why – as McIlheney notes – there are more than 32,000 vacancies for spa therapists in the US alone.
Fundamentally, this is discrimination against women. Research shows that when women take up an occupation, pay levels fall and when men enter a profession, they increase.
Prof Paula England, co-author of Occupational Feminization and Pay says once women start doing a job, “It just doesn’t look like it’s as important to the bottom line or requires as much skill and gender bias sneaks into [pay] decisions”. She also found jobs involving caregiving pay less, even after controlling for the disproportionate share of female workers.
So we’re sitting on the cusp of these two forces – we employ caring women and it’s clear we’re exploiting them.
We’re not the only industry to face this challenge, but we are one of the only ones which profess to want to make the world a better place and to create happiness and wellbeing for all, so let’s start in our own back yard with fair pay for our workers.
Wouldn’t it be great if sometime soon academics were writing research papers showing how the spa industry became the first sector to reverse this insidious gender pay gap?
It would have the added benefit of attracting more people and imagine how profitable we’d be if we filled all those vacancies?
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2018 issue 2
People profile: Garrett Mersberger
Garrett Mersberger on the overhaul of Kohler Waters’ flagship spa in Europe, plus his vision for ISPA following his appointment as chair of the association
Spa programmes: On the menu
Underwater yoga, healing breathwork and genetics all feature in Spa Business’ brand new series revealing the latest treatments, programmes and retreats in spas
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSysteme
Cold therapy is suddenly all the rage, but Zimmer MedizinSysteme’s icelab takes it a step further, creating a cold sauna for the whole body. Rainer Bolsinger explains more about this cutting-edge therapy
Promotional feature: The Tides: pure Dutch nature inside
Modern living might be tough on our minds and bodies, but newly-launched Dutch wellness and self-care brand The Tides offers just the antidote with a new class of pure, raw products and treatments
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
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