The Pitiusa hospitality industry is having serious difficulties to fill its workforce because labor is scarce. One of the main reasons is the high cost of housing, so high that some salaries are not even enough to pay the monthly rent, so the former seasonal workers prefer to stay and work on the Peninsula, but another reason that was not realised until now is a result of Brexit. We had seemed to have forgotten Brexit and the break-up of the United Kingdom with the European Union and thought that it would not bring more consequences than those related to passports, customs and tourist trips, but the withdrawal agreement is also causing havoc in the labor field this year (not last year because tourism and recruitment were quite residual): since Brexit, the British are considered non-EU citizens and their recruitment is no longer as simple and quick as that of a French or a Greek. It is complicated to such an extent that some hotels and businesses linked to leisure and whose clients are basically travelers from the UK have not been able to fill their staff and have only managed to patch it up with poorly qualified employees, most of whom do not have an adequate level of English to serve tourists.
Since last year, the British who wish to work on Ibiza are governed by the law and regulations of foreigners. Citizens of that country who are not beneficiaries of the EU withdrawal agreement (the majority, residents for years) are considered third-country nationals, non-EU nationals, and must apply for residence and work authorization. Before Brexit, it was enough for them to process the EU membership certificate, which was much simpler than what they must do now, which is becoming in some cases an insurmountable and cumbersome wall, according to some sources. The restrictions are such that “it is almost impossible to hire”, they say.
It is no longer enough for the interested party to want to work. Now the job he or she wishes to take up must fit into the occupations provided for in the national employment system or have a highly qualified worker’s permit. And, in addition, the procedures are complex and long, they assure.
“Brexit has impacted us in a very important way, because it has added to the shortage of labor, the high cost of housing and the generalized rise in prices. Ibiza is no longer an attractive place to work in summer”
“Island unattractive to work”
M. (name given because both this person and their company prefer to remain anonymous) is the head of human resources for a hotel in Sant Antoni where almost 100% of its customers are British. Brexit, they say, “has meant a very important change in terms of foreigners that makes it difficult, practically impossible, to hire workers from the United Kingdom,” a problem also faced by some tour operators on the island. In the past, many English people used to come to the island “to experience the summer working. That has disappeared. Many came, and not only for business with purely British clientele”. Those temporary workers have disappeared after Brexit, which has caused rupture in the staff of establishments like M.’s: “It has impacted us in a very important way, because it has added to the shortage of labor, the high cost of housing and the generalized rise in prices. Ibiza is no longer an attractive place to work in the summer”.
“The problem is that the level of English among Spaniards is not very good. For us it is very important that the employee can communicate with the client”
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