Which Hotel Industry Jobs Have the Most Foreign-Born Workers?

Foreign-born workers are highly concentrated in food service and custodial occupations

Source: Luxury Link analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data

Foreign-born workers are most prevalent in hotel jobs that involve food service, cleaning, and behind-the-scenes operations. Among the top 50 hotel occupations by total employment, dishwashers stand out, with 58.4% of workers born outside the United States—the highest share of any hotel job. This is followed closely by gambling service workers (53.3%)—a role that includes casino floor staff, dealers, and other jobs supporting gaming operations in casino hotels.

Nearly half of food preparation workers (49.7%) and housekeepers (49.1%) are foreign-born, along with significant shares of cooks (41.3%), laundry and dry-cleaning workers (41.1%), and dining room helpers (40.1%). Even supervisory positions in food preparation show similar patterns, with foreign-born individuals making up 40% of the workforce in those roles.

These concentrations reflect long-standing labor trends in the hospitality industry, where foreign workers often fill essential, physically demanding positions that support hotel operations from the ground up.

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