Faculty & Research
The Compensation Conundrum
| View subscription information. |
Vol 42 No 4
By: Michael C. Sturman Ph.D.
Executive Summary: Compared to other industries, the service and hospitality industries employ a greater proportion of low-skill and part-time employees. Those workers generally earn less pay than do skilled or full-time workers. Thus, the hospitality industry's supposed low pay may actually reflect the low-skill nature of much of the work and perhaps mask pockets of highly paid positions. For this reason, it would be informative to compare pay levels of jobs according to the jobs' knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). If the hospitality industry pays less for given levels of KSAs than do other industries, then the hospitality industry justly could be labeled as low-paying. On the other hand, if the hospitality industry pays an amount similar to that of other industries for particular KSAs, one could argue that the perception of the industry's offering relatively low pay is inaccurate.
Your Comments Please
If this Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly Article made a positive impact on your management approach or business operations, we welcome your commentary. We would like to post your comments on our website. Submit your comments to mlp1@sha.cornell.edu.
To view the whole article, please click on the link below.
- The Compensation Conundrum By: Michael C. Sturman Ph.D.
| If you have trouble downloading a report, and are able to install software on your computer, try upgrading to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to see if that allows you to read it. |