Rising employment costs squeeze entry-level hiring in events

Rising employment costs are placing mounting pressure on business meetings and events organisations, with a large majority reporting that higher outlays on staff are curbing their ability to bring in new and junior talent.

Fresh research from the Meetings Industry Association (MIA), carried out in June 2026, shows that nine in ten professionals across the sector believe escalating employment costs have restricted recruitment of younger and entry-level employees. The findings highlight growing concern about the long-term health of the event workforce and the industry’s capacity to develop future skills.

Background: a sector under workforce pressure

Table of Contents

The meetings and events industry has been contending with significant labour challenges since the pandemic, including staff shortages, wage inflation and intensified competition for skilled workers from other service sectors. At the same time, event formats have become more complex, with hybrid and digitally enabled experiences demanding new technical competencies.

Organisers, venues and suppliers are attempting to balance these evolving skill requirements with tighter operating margins and shifting client expectations on price and service delivery. In this context, staffing models and recruitment strategies have become a central concern, particularly around how to attract and retain younger professionals who can support new formats and technologies.

The MIA’s latest survey situates these issues within a broader economic environment of rising costs, where payroll, benefits and compliance-related expenses are increasing for many businesses. Workforce planning is emerging as a strategic issue, rather than simply an operational one, as organisations consider how to maintain service quality while managing higher cost bases.

Key findings from the MIA research

The MIA’s June 2026 survey focused on people-related challenges and priorities across the business meetings and events community. While the full dataset has not been publicly detailed, one headline insight has stood out: 90% of professionals surveyed said that rising employment costs had constrained their ability to recruit younger and entry-level staff.

These costs can encompass a range of factors, including:

Higher wage expectations and national minimum wage rises
Increased employer contributions to pensions and benefits
Training, onboarding and compliance costs
Use of temporary or agency staff to plug gaps, often at premium rates

For many organisations operating on tight margins, these upward pressures appear to be making it harder to justify creating new entry-level positions or expanding graduate and apprenticeship schemes. Some businesses are instead opting to stretch existing teams, delay recruitment or prioritise mid-level roles perceived as delivering faster returns.

The survey reinforces the sense that workforce issues have become one of the sector’s most urgent priorities, with staffing pressures affecting service delivery, innovation capacity and growth plans.

Industry impact of constrained entry-level recruitment

Limiting recruitment at the start of the career pipeline could have far-reaching implications for the meetings and events ecosystem. The industry has traditionally relied on a steady influx of junior staff who build experience across operations, production, sales, marketing and technology over time.

Where organisations reduce or freeze entry-level hiring, several potential impacts emerge:

Talent pipeline risk: Fewer junior recruits today can translate into a shortage of experienced managers and specialists in the medium term.
Skills development gaps: Emerging capabilities in areas such as event technology, data analytics and digital engagement often enter the business via younger hires.
Increased pressure on existing teams: Without additional support, mid-level and senior staff may face heavier workloads, which can compound burnout and retention challenges.
Reduced diversity of perspectives: Limiting access to early-career opportunities can diminish the mix of backgrounds, ideas and digital-native skills that younger professionals bring.

These dynamics could be particularly pronounced for organisations delivering technology-enabled or hybrid events, where on-site operations, streaming, audience engagement tools and data capture require staff with both technical and customer-facing skills.

Why this matters for event professionals and technology providers

For event organisers, venue operators and agencies, the findings underline the need to reassess workforce planning in light of rising employment costs. Maintaining a sustainable talent pipeline may require:

Reviewing role design to combine practical experience with structured training for early-career staff
Exploring apprenticeships, internships or shared placements with education providers
Investing in productivity tools and process automation to offset labour-intensive tasks
Strengthening retention strategies to reduce the cost of churn and repeated onboarding

Technology providers serving the event sector also have a stake in how this evolves. As clients grapple with cost pressures and reduced junior headcount, there may be increased demand for platforms and tools that:

Simplify complex operational workflows and reduce manual effort
Enable smaller teams to manage registration, content, production and analytics more efficiently
Provide intuitive interfaces that shorten training times for new staff
Offer data insights that help organisations make informed decisions on staffing and resource allocation

Vendors that can demonstrate clear labour-saving benefits, faster onboarding and strong support for hybrid and digital delivery may be better positioned as clients seek to do more with leaner teams.

The workforce challenge also intersects with broader sector initiatives around professionalism, skills standards and career pathways. Creating visible, attractive career routes for young people into meetings and events will likely remain a key theme for industry associations, education partners and employers alike.

Conclusion

The MIA’s latest research adds data to a concern widely voiced across the business events community: rising employment costs are making it harder to invest in the next generation of talent. With 90% of surveyed professionals reporting constraints on hiring younger and entry-level staff, the issue is no longer isolated to a few organisations but appears systemic.

How the sector responds will influence not only its immediate operating capacity but also its ability to adapt to ongoing digital transformation, shifting client expectations and evolving event formats. For both event professionals and technology providers, workforce planning and cost management are becoming strategic priorities that sit alongside innovation and growth.

As economic and labour market conditions continue to evolve, further research and collaboration between industry bodies, employers and solution providers will be critical in shaping sustainable approaches to recruitment, skills development and employment models across the meetings and events ecosystem.