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With an industry 5.0 revolution taking place in the hospitality industry, a shift from manual to cognitive labor is anticipated, characterized by greater sustainability, resilience and a human-centric approach. In this regard, hospitality educators' ability and willingness to teach novel topics such as automation at work, upskilling of employees, man-machine interaction and service robots have become more important than ever. This study aims to interpret the perspectives of hospitality educators about bridging the gap in the employability skills of (next-gen) hospitality graduates and the concerns relating to career sustainability in times of transition.

A case study method was used given the novelty of the topic in a developing country like India. A qualitative survey with open-ended questions, is employed to understand the viewpoints of Indian hospitality educators, including those with more than 15 years of teaching experience. In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 hospitality educators to reach the theoretical saturation point. MAXQDA software was used to analyze the qualitative data collected in the study.

The findings reveal the challenges and motivations of hospitality educators in adapting to frequently changing business environments. In doing so, it sheds light on the methods employed to create a generation of hospitality graduates aligned with the changing dynamics of the industry.

The paper presents the viewpoints of hospitality educators in India in relation to a futuristic approach to next-gen employability and career sustainability. Whilst numerous studies have focused on the role of robots and artificial intelligence in replacing the human component of the service environment, the concept of people working alongside advanced technologies is fairly new and needs to be fully explored.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous and has affected the hospitality industry worldwide, and the people working in the sector were impacted immensely. The purpose of this study is to understand the viewpoints of hospitality workers in Australia on how lockdowns have impacted professional and personal well-being. The case study methodology is adopted for this study. Viewpoints from Australian hospitality workers were collected through semi-structured interviews. With the pandemic taking surprising turns with the rise of new infections and in turn new pandemic waves, the industry is facing a constant lurking fear of lockdowns. Changing variants of COVID-19 creates a profound effect on the psychological and personal well-being of the people employed in the hospitality sector. This chapter would reflect upon the viewpoints of hospitality workers in Australia after two years of the COVID-19 crisis. A ‘real-time’ assessment is required to understand the vulnerability of hospitality industry workers in a developed country.