Excerpt from BBC

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has said it will pay millions in wage rises and bonuses to try to combat what it calls persistent staff shortages.

The chain said hospitality-wide labour shortages meant a "material number of vacancies" remained unfilled.

Higher pay rates will cost Whitbread £12m-£13m, it said, while it is also paying £10m in retention bonuses.

Recent official figures show vacancies at a record, with hospitality seeing some of the biggest shortages.

The Office for National Statistics said vacancies reached 1.1 million between July and September, the highest level since records began in 2001.

The Institute for Employment Studies said this month that labour shortages were affecting the whole economy.

Many firms are being forced to pay signing on bonuses, or raise pay rates to tempt staff to work for them.

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