Τourism season 2024 has started in Greece with around 80,000 job vacancies in hotels, bars and restaurants triggering serious concern among employers who fear decrease on service they can offer. Αnd thus in a year where bookings predict a new tourism record in the country.
The tourism and food industry sectors are sounding alarm as they face a serious problem with thousands of vacant jobs, media reported on Thursday.
The large shortage of workers in key positions and specialties is an open wound and a threat to the quality of services that businesses will be able to offer. Distortions and seasonality in catering and tourism professions are a deterrent for tens of thousands of workers.
According to the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) and the General Confederation of Professional Craft Traders of Greece (GSEVEE), 80,000 positions remain vacant, of which 53,000 are in hotels and 30,000 in catering.
The Panhellenic Federation of Food and Tourism Workers POEET) in its statement said that “the services we will provide this year will be disproportionate to the price our visitors will pay. I was impressed to mention that this year our country will be more expensive by almost 30%”.
The POEET lists several ways to attract tourism seasonal workers:mentions the
- The restoration of the temporary validity of the unemployment fund to the pre-memorandum levels.
- The return of the one-off award to 20 years as it was 10 years.
- The inclusion of women seasonal workers in the maternity allowance, as is the case with the rest of the workers in Greece.
- The observance of agreements in the sector and upward adjustment of wages.
The POEET calledon the state as well as on employers to assume their responsibilities “before we become internationally resilient” and added that “no one can live with the net annual income of 7,100.”
The Public Employment Service Agency (DYPA) aspires to cover some of these employees’ shortages through the new “Jobmatch” platform, while solutions are also being sought by bringing in workers from third countries. The latter has met with resistance from sector workers, who have hinted at the possibility of strikes even during the tourism season, asking the state for immediate and drastic measures.
In 2021 the vacancies numbered 57,700, in 2022 they reached 60,000, last year they exceeded 60,000 and this year they are estimated at 80,000. Of these, 53,000 concern hotels and 30,000 the food service sector.
Even if the planned 11,000 transfers of workers from third countries are implemented in their entirety, all the vacancies cannot be filled, nor can the skills required be secured.
As the problem evolves into a permanent one, it is expanding. The intensification of work in previous years, in order to offer the service to tourists with fewer staff, is making employees in the sector extremely skeptical of working again this season under the same conditions. Therefore, most are looking for job elsewhere, with the same or even lower wages but better conditions.
Based on job offers announcement and on experience of job seekers in the tourism sector, working, salary and living conditions are usually without day off for a period of 5 to 6 months, a monthly salary of 1,000-1,2000 euros possible also with tips and as well accommodation in not appropriate places.
In this landscape, even serious businesses that respect labor conditions and collective agreements are struggling to find hands, especially when many are reportedly choosing to work uninsured or under-insured, so that they do not lose their right to the unemployment allowance for seasonal workers, daily kathimerini reported.
