The hoteliers demand more professionalization and point out that the salary is not the determining factor, but rather the reconciliation and transience of the sector
‘Waiter wanted’. This poster hangs on the doors of thousands upon thousands of catering establishments across half of Spain, similar to what happened in pharmacies during a pandemic, when the vast majority carried the ‘There are no masks’ sign.
The company Randstad Human Resources launched a campaign this week to attract 1,000 professionals from this sector this summer. But Adecco also has another 1,000 open vacancies.
On the eve of a summer that experts expect to exceed the tourism record of 2019, that number could rise to some 100,000 open vacancies – according to data from Cepyme employers. The provinces with the most hospitality professionals are looking for Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Seville, Castellón, Málaga, Valencia, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands.
What is happening? How is it possible that the country with the highest unemployment in Europe, where more than 3 million people are looking for a job and cannot find it, paradoxically has jobs that have been forgotten? Entrepreneurs worry and launch an SOS: the country’s economic recovery depends mainly on the revival of tourism, the sector that contributes most to Spain’s GDP, and if there are no staff, it will be difficult to to provide the requested and still existing services as one of the most important tourist destinations worldwide.
José Luis Yzuel, President of Hospitality in Spain, indicates that it is a “very demanding job in which the reconciliation with personal life is very difficult because the highest peaks of work coincide with the time most people enjoy their free time. Remember that the hotel industry has doubled its workforce in the past 20 years, a percentage that is ‘barely sustainable’.
It is also true that although there is a lot of talk about the staff shortage in the hospitality industry, it is not the only sector that has this problem. It is also particularly prevalent in the computer and telecommunications sector due to the emergence of new technologies, as well as in traditional activities such as agriculture, construction and transportation.
From the Department of Labor, they categorically deny a phenomenon such as the Great Resignation of the US, where more than 4 million workers have voluntarily left their jobs, and reject that it is a structural problem, limiting it to a few sectors and areas. But what has caused the most controversy, especially among businessmen, is that the department headed by Yolanda Díaz has blamed this staff shortage on the low wages and precarious working conditions they endure.
It is a “false”, “irresponsible”, “demagogic” message, which recently denounced the President of Cepyme, Gerardo Cuerva, who counterattacked: “In the Malaga parador, which I know well, the businessman, that is, the state, fails to find the workers he needs… And I am sure that in this case Minister Díaz will not consider that this employer pays poorly ».
To reduce this problem of the lack of waiters to low wages is to “trivialize”, defend against the CEOE, who sees this as an excuse for the government to implement the structural reforms that allow to address the “weaknesses” of the Spanish labor market and correct the question, not address it. anything, more training.
The sector emphasizes that the functions that require more qualification and experience are not covered and that the training is not in line with the needs of the companies. Infojobs data shows that 70% of restaurant workers have no specific qualification.
In fact, from the gastronomic institution Basque Culinary Center, they point out that the schools are full of aspiring chefs, but few waiters. The lack of recognition, precarious contracts and difficult hours are some of the reasons why the demand is not being met.
But is it really a problem of salary and precarious circumstances? How much does a waiter earn? The average salary in Spain is 17,000 euros gross per year, just over 1,200 euros per month, according to Adecco estimates, although they vary according to provincial agreement.
For example, the salary in the catering contracts in Malaga, the Canary Islands, Madrid or the Balearic Islands rises to 1,300-1,400 euros per month, although a minority, as in Asturias or in companies such as Telepizza, McDonald’s or Burger King , hardly count the minimum wage, which according to CC OO data stands at 1,000 euros per month (in 14 payments).
In addition to salary, companies need to improve working conditions to become a more attractive industry. “It is a physically demanding job, which also does not allow reconciliation with personal life,” they point out from Hospitality of Spain. For this reason, they consider it necessary to look for systems that “improve” and conditions, which will be achieved with “professionalization and training”.
Trade unions and business executives alike agree that the main culprit behind this sector’s workforce shortage is the pandemic, as most of the 800,000 temporary jobs it destroyed in just a few days have been in the hospitality industry, a sector that has seen a decline in recent years. two years at half throttle.
These workers therefore had to seek their lives in other sectors and did not make the return journey. “Sectors such as agriculture or some of the industry have been active since the start of the covid and the frequent incarcerations caused many of these professionals to move to these other sectors,” explains Ángel Solves, director of Adecco Hospitality to this newspaper. .
It should be borne in mind that the hospitality sector has practically doubled its jobs in the last 20 years due to the increased demand for these services, going from one million jobs in the year 2000 to 1.8 million in 2019, while the establishment of young people in the labor market is a third of what it was then.
Solves also warns that there are areas in our country, especially on the islands, where the return of foreign tourists requires language skills that “make it even more difficult to find qualified workers”, for which it advocates promoting the formation of deficit profiles of the promote the sector and in turn destinations and seek formulas to create employment in those provinces with a highly concentrated seasonality (sun and beach destinations, etc.).
For his part, Florentino Felgueroso, associate researcher at Fedea, admits that the “precarious situation” of companies in the sector translates into “worse working conditions”. However, he warns that the hotel sector is the sector that employs more immigrants, something that has declined due to the pandemic and is exacerbating this staffing problem. The expert points out that in other European countries, such as the Netherlands, almost 40% of young people combine their studies with a job in this sector, which is not common in Spain.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
