The race for labor in the hotel & catering industry
Good pay, regular working hours, friendly teams. Being able to work where others go on vacation - a dream! If you believe the job advertisements, there are only great jobs in the hotel and catering industry. If you look at the figures, the much-cited shortage of skilled workers has now turned into a real labor shortage. In the meantime, you're lucky if you manage to fill all positions - you can't be choosy. It's better to have unskilled workers than none at all - and even they can be hard to come by.
Only the tough get through, and in the hotel and catering industry, people are getting magazineed up. No wonder, since nothing less than one's own existence is at stake. So some peace-loving Gastronom drives out there its claws and reaches to methods, which are only as questionable to be designated. One even hears that some of the particularly freaky ones go to the neighboring business for a schnitzel and take the service staff with them.
But what do I gain as an employer if I have recruited staff who soon realize that their working hours are less flexible than expected and that all they can do is watch while others are on vacation? If you make false promises, the newly recruited specialists will run away faster than you can say "employee bonus".
The fact is that the budget is tight, and it's not over until the last guest has left voluntarily. That's the way it is in this industry, and nothing will change that. So how can you make a job that demands everything of you palatable to someone? That requires diligence, discipline and full commitment?
With honesty! Create excellent working conditions and speak very loudly and very clearly about them. It doesn't have to be an astronomical salary or a 4-day week. Those who choose a job in tourism usually do so in the knowledge that the working hours are not the most family-friendly and that a business lawyer will probably earn more than they do. But working in tourism has a lot to offer - for true passionate hosts, no other industry comes into question.
The previous results from PERSENTIS have also clearly shown that calculative factors such as salary, equipment or working hours carry far less weight than one would expect. A fair salary is, of course, a basic requirement, but team spirit, the opportunity to develop professionally and a set of values that people are happy to identify with are much more important.