There are many departments in a hotel (management, reception, reservations, maintenance, security, sales, human resources, administration…) and few workers to fill them this season. It is the most common problem that the sector has been facing for several weeks now and everything points to the fact that it will continue until the end of summer.
The director of a hotel complex located in Portinatx (who prefers not to give names) explains that the problem is “so serious” that they have had to allocate customer rooms to employees. “It is especially complex to hire, starting with the issue of rent, which is not affordable, so we have to resort to offering accommodation,” he acknowledges.
Hotel Room Reallocation
In this regard, he says that of the 190 rooms available, they have already withdrawn a dozen to allocate them to the staff. “And in the coming weeks we will continue to reallocate more,” he adds, even with the economic impact that this entails. “They are losses, yes, but without workers we cannot offer the service,” he points out.
Another problem they are encountering is the lack of qualifications. “This has a big influence on middle and senior positions, especially in departmental management. If they aren’t people with experience, it’s no good. However, what we value most in our regular staff is attitude, the rest can be learned. That’s why we try to train them ourselves so that they don’t leave,” he stresses. “If you fire someone who doesn’t work well, nothing happens because they quickly find another job. We can’t fire anyone,” he laments.
For her part, the director of two hotels in Es Canar, María Peñalva, is “overwhelmed” with the situation they are experiencing. “We are constantly changing staff,” she says. They only opened their doors on May 1 and yet, “Some have already taken leave, others do not pass the probationary period because they are not qualified and some have another offer that is better and leave”, she explains.
To alleviate the problem, Peñalva indicates that in one of the hotels they have ten rooms exclusively for staff. “Depending on the space they have, they can sleep from two to five people. The conditions are not the best because they have to share the same sleeping space and also the bathroom,” she explains, which is why they offer them this opportunity completely free of charge (without deducting a percentage of their salary), in addition to providing them with breakfast, lunch and dinner. “
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.