Greece is struggling to find tourism workers because of the risk of more closures

After a decade working abroad, chef Nikolas Tsimidakis returned home last year from Dubai in the hope that the eventual recovery of Greece from the pandemic and the rise of Mediterranean tourism would give him a good work.

Like many others, he was disappointed. As the new closures delayed the reopening of Greece and the start of the tourist season, Tsimidakis struggled to find work that offered security and a decent wage. Reluctantly, he decided to return to the Gulf after finding a well-paying job in Abu Dhabi.

“I had two [job] offers[in Greece]. . . But no one could tell me when I would open the hotel or for how long, ”said Tsimidakis.

Decisions like yours explain why Greece now suffers from a labor shortage in tourism. The sector usually accounts for one-fifth of economic production, but struggles to prepare for the vital summer season, as potential candidates for restaurant and bar positions are deterred by the risk of renewing Covid restrictions. -19 that companies close.

The problem threatens to seriously exert the country’s recovery from the pandemic, given the central importance of tourism to the economy. “This is the first time we are facing this shortage in the industry,” said George Kavathas, president of the federation of restaurants and related professions in Greece.

Many other countries, with Germany, have also had difficulty hiring bar and restaurant staff as the pandemic subsided. The difference with Greece is the relative size and economic weight of the sector.

It usually employs more than 432,000 people, or 10% of the national workforce, almost twice as much as Spain. Therefore, any problem can have macroeconomic implications.

HSBC has forecast that the return of tourism as a whole would boost Greek growth by two percentage points this year, after having fully accounted for two-thirds of last year’s fall of more than 8% of gross domestic product.

Meanwhile, Christos Staikouras, the finance minister, has predicted that tourism revenues will reach 8 billion euros in 2021: less than half of the 18 billion euros in 2019, but double the fall of the average pandemic of the year. last year when industry revenues collapsed to 4 billion euros.

But now economists warn that labor shortages, despite Greece’s unemployment rate of 16.5%, the highest in the EU, could slow economic growth and damage these economic and employment projections. income.

“The main job-creating sectors. . . such as tourism, retail and entertainment are suffering from uncertainty, “said Nikos Vettas, CEO of IOBE, an economic think tank.” It’s not clear how quickly they will return to pre-Covid levels. ” .

Hercules Zisimopoulos, owner of a bar, hotel and restaurant that also runs a local tourism industry group on the island of Mykonos party, blamed the repeated cycle of closures and the easing of restrictions to deter workers of re-occupying jobs.

“The constant opening and closing of restaurants and bars over the previous year has created a great deal of uncertainty and employees fear we may be forced to close again,” he said. “That’s why they’re looking for other types of jobs,” such as delivery providers.

The problem is accompanied by an oversupply of mediocre cafes, bars and restaurants that do not offer attractive employment prospects. After the financial crisis, the hospitality sector served as protection for many who were unemployed or low-skilled.

Up to 92% of the new companies that opened between 2010 and 2020 belonged to the food and beverage sector, Kavathas has calculated, which led to a long under-supply crisis that peaked during the pandemic. .

“People think it’s an easy profession, that anyone can open a cafe, but that’s not true,” Kavathas said. “Excess supply. . . it hurts everyone, as low quality and limited benefits are shared among others. . . What we see now is the tip of the iceberg.

Some restorers say government policies to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19 have made the problem worse. Subsidies paid to employees in closed restaurants and bars are still being offered, as the indoor dining room has not yet been allowed to resume.

Today, many workers prefer to live on their 534 euros a month rather than work in a restaurant where salaries start at about 850 euros a month, according to restaurateurs. The subsidy scheme has cost the government almost 1 billion euros since the pandemic began.

“Many have been complacent about the benefits they get and are not looking for work,” said the owner of the restaurant and bar Nektarios Nikolopoulos, based in Athens and the island of Serifos.

Others see the lack of staff as a symptom of wider problems in Greek labor markets.

The country ten-year economic crisis it resulted in lower wages that have not yet recovered, youth unemployment among the highest in Europe and the emigration of many skilled workers, such as Chef Tsimidakis.

Staff shortages are “a sign of dysfunction in the labor market,” said Vettas, who blamed “too many regulations” for making employment in Greece “inflexible.”

Meanwhile, even the most famous places in Greece are worried.

Lefteris Lazarou, a Michelin-starred chef, said this summer season was the first in 35 years that his renowned Varoulko restaurant on Piraeus ’promenade on the outskirts of Athens had struggled to cover all its 76 jobs, usually taken in an instant.

“Every year, my mailbox was so full of resumes from people who wanted to work here that I couldn’t pass them on,” he said. “Now, I don’t have any.”