Poor pay is leading to staff shortages across the spa industry as we exploit our caring, largely female workforce. The spa industry can take a lead in fighting this insidious gender pay gap
By Liz Terry | Published in Spa Business 2018 issue 2
Caring women are the most ‘exploitable’ workers / Wavebreakmedia /shutterstock
Congratulations to ISPA on the publication of its first piece of research into careers and employment in the spa market. The recently published ISPA Spa Workforce report was carried out by Colin McIlheney of PricewaterhouseCoopers and is covered in our feature on page 44.
First the good news and as if we didn’t know already, the report confirms the industry attracts committed, caring people.
McIlheney says “The overwhelming majority of [therapists] are passionate about providing exceptional client service and would like to have a long-term career in the industry”.
The study also found they stick to the same employer far more than expected, saying: “Almost 80 per cent expect to be working in their current organisation 12 months from now. This challenges another traditional belief that many spa professionals are actively seeking a new job.”
Set against this, however, researchers found long hours, poor pay, less than great management, lack of training and pressure to be responsible for retail upselling are seen as issues.
Importantly, more than 50 per cent of therapists surveyed said their pay does not fairly reflect their contribution and this goes to the heart of why – as McIlheney notes – there are more than 32,000 vacancies for spa therapists in the US alone.
Fundamentally, this is discrimination against women. Research shows that when women take up an occupation, pay levels fall and when men enter a profession, they increase.
Prof Paula England, co-author of Occupational Feminization and Pay says once women start doing a job, “It just doesn’t look like it’s as important to the bottom line or requires as much skill and gender bias sneaks into [pay] decisions”. She also found jobs involving caregiving pay less, even after controlling for the disproportionate share of female workers.
So we’re sitting on the cusp of these two forces – we employ caring women and it’s clear we’re exploiting them.
We’re not the only industry to face this challenge, but we are one of the only ones which profess to want to make the world a better place and to create happiness and wellbeing for all, so let’s start in our own back yard with fair pay for our workers.
Wouldn’t it be great if sometime soon academics were writing research papers showing how the spa industry became the first sector to reverse this insidious gender pay gap?
It would have the added benefit of attracting more people and imagine how profitable we’d be if we filled all those vacancies?
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
People profile: Garrett Mersberger
Garrett Mersberger on the overhaul of Kohler Waters’ flagship spa in Europe, plus his vision for ISPA following his appointment as chair of the association
Spa programmes: On the menu
Underwater yoga, healing breathwork and genetics all feature in Spa Business’ brand new series revealing the latest treatments, programmes and retreats in spas
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSysteme
Cold therapy is suddenly all the rage, but Zimmer MedizinSysteme’s icelab takes it a step further, creating a cold sauna for the whole body. Rainer Bolsinger explains more about this cutting-edge therapy
Promotional feature: The Tides: pure Dutch nature inside
Modern living might be tough on our minds and bodies, but newly-launched Dutch wellness and self-care brand The Tides offers just the antidote with a new class of pure, raw products and treatments
Poor pay is leading to staff shortages across the spa industry as we exploit our caring, largely female workforce. The spa industry can take a lead in fighting this insidious gender pay gap
By Liz Terry | Published in Spa Business 2018 issue 2
Caring women are the most ‘exploitable’ workers / Wavebreakmedia /shutterstock
Congratulations to ISPA on the publication of its first piece of research into careers and employment in the spa market. The recently published ISPA Spa Workforce report was carried out by Colin McIlheney of PricewaterhouseCoopers and is covered in our feature on page 44.
First the good news and as if we didn’t know already, the report confirms the industry attracts committed, caring people.
McIlheney says “The overwhelming majority of [therapists] are passionate about providing exceptional client service and would like to have a long-term career in the industry”.
The study also found they stick to the same employer far more than expected, saying: “Almost 80 per cent expect to be working in their current organisation 12 months from now. This challenges another traditional belief that many spa professionals are actively seeking a new job.”
Set against this, however, researchers found long hours, poor pay, less than great management, lack of training and pressure to be responsible for retail upselling are seen as issues.
Importantly, more than 50 per cent of therapists surveyed said their pay does not fairly reflect their contribution and this goes to the heart of why – as McIlheney notes – there are more than 32,000 vacancies for spa therapists in the US alone.
Fundamentally, this is discrimination against women. Research shows that when women take up an occupation, pay levels fall and when men enter a profession, they increase.
Prof Paula England, co-author of Occupational Feminization and Pay says once women start doing a job, “It just doesn’t look like it’s as important to the bottom line or requires as much skill and gender bias sneaks into [pay] decisions”. She also found jobs involving caregiving pay less, even after controlling for the disproportionate share of female workers.
So we’re sitting on the cusp of these two forces – we employ caring women and it’s clear we’re exploiting them.
We’re not the only industry to face this challenge, but we are one of the only ones which profess to want to make the world a better place and to create happiness and wellbeing for all, so let’s start in our own back yard with fair pay for our workers.
Wouldn’t it be great if sometime soon academics were writing research papers showing how the spa industry became the first sector to reverse this insidious gender pay gap?
It would have the added benefit of attracting more people and imagine how profitable we’d be if we filled all those vacancies?
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
People profile: Garrett Mersberger
Garrett Mersberger on the overhaul of Kohler Waters’ flagship spa in Europe, plus his vision for ISPA following his appointment as chair of the association
Spa programmes: On the menu
Underwater yoga, healing breathwork and genetics all feature in Spa Business’ brand new series revealing the latest treatments, programmes and retreats in spas
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSysteme
Cold therapy is suddenly all the rage, but Zimmer MedizinSysteme’s icelab takes it a step further, creating a cold sauna for the whole body. Rainer Bolsinger explains more about this cutting-edge therapy
Promotional feature: The Tides: pure Dutch nature inside
Modern living might be tough on our minds and bodies, but newly-launched Dutch wellness and self-care brand The Tides offers just the antidote with a new class of pure, raw products and treatments
People taking GLP-1 weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound
may be losing weight, but they’re also becoming less physically active, according to new
research presented at the ENDO 2026 annual meeting of the Endocrine Society
Global retreat trade show, Synergy The Retreat Show, has launched a resource called The
Source, which hosts an open-access online Transformation Series programme.
The Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC) charity has announced its first five-
day Living with Cancer and Beyond retreat, which will be held at Carden Park Hotel and Spa in
Cheshire, UK, between 1 and 5 September.
Patmos Aktis, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, has opened in Greece, with a renovated and
rebranded wellness offering called Ansana Wellness and Spa.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property in Hawaii, US, has opened its
22,000 sq ft indoor-outdoor Spa at Mauna Kea as the final step in the property’s overall
renovation, which has cost more than US$180 million (€166 million, £140 mill
The UK spa review and discovery platform for consumers, the Good Spa Guide, has announced
it will host the Good Spa Guide Awards 2026 during an event on 16 November at Sopwell House
Hotel in St Albans, UK.
Eighty-four per cent of consumers now say wellness is a top priority in their lives, with this
percentage increasing year on year, according to a preview presentation of McKinsey’s Future of
Wellness 2026 research report.
Mass protests have been taking place since Monday 1 June in Albania over the development of
a luxury resort by Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
Global Wellness Day (GWD) marked its 15th anniversary on Saturday 13 June 2026, with the
theme: #JoyMagenta – a celebration of the healing qualities of simple gestures and activities
that spark joy.
Global luxury hospitality brand, Six Senses, has partnered with longevity healthcare provider,
HUM2N, to launch a clinic at Six Senses London, at The Whiteley.
