No 'quick fix' for hospitality staff shortages
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So-called quick fixes to address staff shortages in the hospitality sector, such as issuing more permits to bring in non-EU workers, are only going to add to long-term problems in the industry, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Dr Deirdre Curran, a lecturer at NUIG who has conducted research on the industry, said that the pandemic has exacerbated problems already present within the industry and that the situation has worsened for many who have stayed in the sector.
“The workers who have stayed are having to work way harder, with longer hours,” she said. “They’re training in new recruits who might only stay for a week.”
She told the Oireachtas Tourism Committee that inflation and the cost of living is also adding to stress levels for workers within hospitality, as is the “sky high” price of hotels which is adding to customer expectations in an industry that is short staffed.
Dr Curran said that her research reported instances where staff had been emotionally and physically abused, and stressed the importance of listening to workers in the industry when proposing changes.
The hospitality industry has said around 40,000 workers left the sector in the wake of the pandemic, and has said it’s a threat to its recovery post-Covid. Last month, Fáilte Ireland said it is targeting retirees and parents in a new campaign to address staff shortages.
Robert Kelly, representing Unite the Union, told the committee that low wages and precarious working conditions had had an impact on recruitment and retention within the sector.
He said any steps to alleviate the labour shortages would have to look at the issue of pay, and also called for statutory collective bargaining rights for trade unions in the sector.
On the possibility of bringing in more foreign workers to address the staff shortages, Unite’s Rhona McCord said that problems pinpointed in surveys of hospitality staff, particularly around pay, would have also affect such workers.
“We need to be really aware that workers will have to pay the same rents and live in the same conditions,” she said. “It’s not a sustainable solution. It’s not a race to the bottom, it’s a race to social catastrophe.” Siptu organiser Clement Shevlin told the committee he had recently asked a worker in the industry where had all the staff gone.
“He says they’re like freed slaves. Covid took the chains off them, they didn’t realise what other kind of jobs were out there,” he said. Mr Shevlin said people who had looked for new opportunities elsewhere were opting to take up those jobs and would not be going back to hospitality and tourism in the future.
Denis Hynes, from Siptu, called for the reintroduction of Joint Labour Committees in the sector to provide a forum to advocate for and protect workers in the industry.
He said that there was a “culture that recognises a level of exploitation” in the industry.
Mr Hynes said it was clearly the case that not every employer is a bad one, he said some are and take advantage of their staff.
Fianna Fáil senator Malcolm Byrne said he disagreed that there was such a culture in the hospitality sector and that the overwhelming majority employers were good ones or aiming to be so.
The committee is expected to prepare a report on how to address the shortages in the hospitality industry, and make recommendations to the Government.