New Delhi: Top European hotel chains are hiring workers without experience or rescheduling as officials acknowledge years of low-wage workers have come back to the cutting edge, reducing demand for post-pandemic travel. unable to complete. Thousands of workers left the hospitality industry as international travel shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many chose not to return, finding better-paying employment elsewhere, with hoteliers facing a serious shortage.
Europe’s biggest hotelier Accor is running trial initiatives to recruit people who have not worked in the industry before, chief executive Sebastian Bazin said in an interview with Reuters at the Qatar Economic Forum last month.
He added that Accor, which operates brands like Mercure, ibis and Fairmont in more than 110 countries, needs 35,000 employees globally.
Bazin said, “We tried it in Lyon and Bordeaux ten days ago and this weekend we are interviewing people who have no resumes, no prior job experience and can get them to work within 24 hours. kept on.”
In the short term, Accor is filling roles with young people and expatriates in France while also limiting services.
“It’s students, people coming from North Africa,” Bajin said. “And basically closing restaurants for lunch or[opening them]only five days a week. There’s no other solution.”
He said the new recruits are given six hours of training and they learn about the job.
Severe shortage of staff in Spain and Portugal
Staff shortages are particularly pressing in Spain and Portugal, where tourism accounted for 13% and 15% of economic output, respectively, before the pandemic. Hoteliers are offering higher salaries, free accommodation and perks like bonus and health insurance.
“Many employees have decided to move to other regions, so we are starting an industry and we have to fight for talent,” Gabriel Escherer, CEO of Spanish hotelier Melia, told reporters in Madrid.
To attract employees, his company recently provided accommodation in hotel rooms, sometimes in hotel rooms, due to a lack of rental accommodation near its resorts.
Small hoteliers face similar staffing challenges.
The Director of Operations of Hotel Mundial, one of Lisbon’s most prestigious hotels, said it is currently trying to recruit 59 employees. Without adequate staff, he fears that some hotels will cut down on the number of guests and the range of facilities they offer.
“If we can’t recruit, we have to cut services,” he said. “It’s regrettable and dramatic for an industry that hasn’t had any revenue for the past two years.”
In Spain and Portugal, two of Europe’s top tourist destinations, the landscape is echoed in bars, restaurants and hotels – bookings they crave but at a price they’re struggling to meet. According to national hospitality associations, Spain’s catering industry has fewer than 200,000 workers and Portuguese hotels need at least 15,000 more people to meet the growing demand.
In Spain, bars and restaurants increased employee salaries in the first quarter by almost 60% compared to a year earlier, according to official figures. But the tourism industry is still the sector that pays employees at least 1,150 euros ($1,200) per month.
In neighboring Portugal, hospitality workers’ salaries are expected to increase by 7% this year, according to a survey by the central bank and the National Institute of Statistics, but the average salary in the sector is 881 euros per month, well above the minimum wage. Is. 705 Euro.