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Top European hotel chains are hiring people with no experience or even a resume, as executives admit that years of underpaying their employees has caught up with them, leaving them unable to satisfy post-pandemic travel demand. When international travel was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of workers left the hospitality industry. Many chose not to return, finding better-paying jobs elsewhere, leaving hoteliers in desperate need.
Accor, Europe’s largest hotelier, is running trial projects to recruit people who have never worked in the industry, said Chief Executive Sebastien Bazin in an interview with Reuters last month at the Qatar Economic Forum.
According to him, Accor, which operates brands such as Mercure, ibis, and Fairmont in over 110 countries, requires 35,000 workers worldwide.
“We tried ten days ago in Lyon and Bordeaux, and this weekend we’re having people quoted with no resume, no prior job experience, and they’re hired within 24 hours,” Bazin said.
In the short term, Accor is hiring young people and migrants to fill positions in France while also limiting services.
“It’s students from North Africa,” Bazin explained. “And essentially closing fast food places for lunch or only opening them five days a week. There is no other way out.”
According to him, new recruits receive six hours of training and learn on the job.
Staff shortages are especially acute in Spain and Portugal, where tourist industry accounted for 13% and 15% of economic output before the pandemic, respectively.
Hoteliers in the area are offering higher pay, free lodging, and perks such as bonuses and health insurance.
“Many employees have decided to move to other sectors,” Gabriel Escarrer, CEO of Spanish hotelier Melia, told reporters in Madrid. “We are starting an industry from scratch and we have to compete for talent.”
Due to a shortage of rental housing near his resorts, his company recently provided accommodation, often in hotel rooms, to attract staff.
Smaller hotels face similar staffing issues.
The operations director of Hotel Mundial, one of Lisbon’s most iconic hotels, stated that the hotel is currently looking to hire 59 people. He fears that without enough staff, some hotels will reduce guest statistics and the range of benefits they can offer.
“We will have to cut services if we can’t recruit,” he said. “This is unfortunate and dramatic for an industry that has been without revenue for the last two years.”
‘WE’VE BEEN SLEEPING’
Across Spain and Portugal, two of Europe’s top tourism locations, the scenario is repeated in bars, fast food joints, and hotels – the bookings they crave but cannot afford.
Jose Carlos Sacó, 52, can only open his Madrid bar, Tabanco de Jerez, on weekends when students who need money have no classes and are available to work.
“We can’t open during the week because we don’t have any hands, they’re studying,” he explained, motioning to his student workers setting up tables on a Saturday.