Tourism: Reasons for job vacancies – looking for last minute solutions

Entrepreneurs in the field of tourism feel desperate, as the tourism season began this year with 80,000 job vacancies compared to 60,000 jobs last year, including 53,000 jobs in hotels and 30,000 jobs in the field of catering. The biggest deficiencies are recorded in kitchens, service and cleanliness.

Eight out of ten hotels That actually works They are understaffed Entrepreneurs to find workers, as they themselves assert, discount their requirements and They pay wages higher than the industry’s collective agreement.

Intensification of work

Advertisements that are published – refers to the President of the Food Tourism Federation Giorgos Hotzoglou – It reflects the intensification of work, as seasonal workers work 12 hours, 7 days a week.

Even if their allowances and overtime are paid, the union points out that The intensification of working and living conditions is an explosive mixture Which created 80 thousand vacant jobs. Many young people start working in May They leave in June Saying they cannot bear to quit the season, others are looking for work in other industries, even with lower salaries but with humane working conditions.

“The state has finally realized the problem of vacancies and is trying through various initiatives, such as the JOBmatch platform, to facilitate recruitment even at the last minute,” notes the President of the Halkidiki Hotel Association. Gregory Tasius He adds:

“Today, eight out of ten hotels show a shortage of staff, especially low-skilled ones, such as bartenders, maids and waiters. Salaries are satisfactory, and in no case are fees less than 1,300 euros in total for 6 working days.

However, this season too We suffer from workers who suddenly leave because they found better payengaging in a constant bidding war over fees as hotels literally “steal” staff from the competition.

Recalls do not solve the problem

At the same time, solutions are being sought to cover vacancies Through transfers from third countries. But even if the 11,000 tourism recalls were implemented – a difficult target due to bureaucracy – it is questionable whether the positions, even those with low qualifications, would be filled.

Referring to this issue, Labor Minister Domna Michaelidou emphasizes: “The relocation of workers is part of the solution to the worker shortage. More than 160,000 callbacks have been approved for this year.

The Migration Policy Department, in cooperation with the Ministries of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, is trying to greatly simplify the process so that transfers can be made much easier and faster. We have already concluded bilateral agreements with Egypt, Bangladesh and other countries.

But remittances cannot solve the whole problem, we need to mobilize and motivate the younger population as well, so that we can attract young people to tourism and people who are not yet traditionally accustomed to working in this industry.

Jobmatch platform

jobmatch platform also tries to provide a solution even at the last minute (jobmatch.dypa.gov.gr) for business advertisements and JOBmatch for job seekers) has been activated by DYPA with the aim of contributing to matching employers and employees in less than 5 minutes in order to fill as many job vacancies as possible.

application Enables companies to instantly identify suitable potential employees In their research for their selection then suggest a day and time for the interview.

For his part, the candidate is informed immediately once the company selects him for the interview and has the option to accept or decline the invitation.

Candidates also have the option to update their search filters as often as they wish, and customize their profiles according to their availability and preferences.

DYPA’s free JOBmatch app and platform have received great response During the first week of its operation, 1,124 companies were already registered – Mainly hotels, restaurants, cafes and tourist services – In addition to 5,664 citizens looking for work, 2,555 (45%) of whom are unemployed.

So far 3,911 matches played (Matches) through JOBmatch by DYPA between companies and candidates and 1,949 interviews were conducted without any mediation.

Among the companies are large hotel groups, while the areas that have shown the greatest interest are Kefalonia, Corfu, Samos, Folegandros, Dodecanese and Halkidiki.

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