The Coronavirus has been reduced, and tourists are returning to Italy, but Italy's hotels and restaurants are experiencing an unexpected problem: they are unable to find staff.Prime Minister Mario Draghis unity government hopes for a strong rebound from last years recession. It was Italy's worst since World War Two. He is looking to the EUs new COVID-19 passport to help him lead the way this summer.However, emerging recruitment problems, echoing reports about chronic labour shortages at the U.S. and British hospitality industries, could hinder recovery prospects in Italy and the wider Euro zone.Stefano Giuliodori said that they are currently in difficulty hiring 12 waiters and chambermaids to work in his Riccione hotel at the Adriatic resort.We expect a lot of people to visit our site and therefore we need staff. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right person.General director of Federalberghi hotel lobby group Federalberghi, Alessandro Massimo Nucara estimates that the sector is facing a shortage of around 10% or 50,000 workers.According to employment data, young Italians need to be eager to work. The highest rate in the European Union was 33.7% unemployment among job seekers aged 15-24 years old in April.Furthermore, 23% of Italians aged 15 to 29 are not in work, education, or training. This is almost twice the EU average for NEETs, and easily the highest among the 27-nation bloc.Giuliodori is offering net monthly salaries in the region of 1,200 euros ($1,430). He believes that part of the problem is welfare benefits. These were introduced prior to COVID-19, in an effort prevent families from falling into poverty.Giuliodori said that people are tempted to stay in their hometowns, not to pay rent, and to continue working odd jobs with their families because of all the subsidies.Ricciones seasonal workers are mostly from outside the region. This means they need to find lodging and board, which can result in earnings that fall below the 20,000 euros per year Eurostat estimates is the average income for an individual, childless Italian.Payouts that are not satisfactoryIn 2019, a basic income welfare program was introduced to pay job seekers 500 euros per month. An emergency plan for those who were not eligible for the so-called citizens' salary but are still hard-hit by pandemic, pays up to 840 euro per family.According to official statistics, 2.99 million people received the citizens' salary in March 2021, while 628.242 families were receiving benefits from the emergency plan, which lasts until September.Matteo Renzi, a former centre-left prime minister, said last week that the citizens' salary was preventing young people from finding a job. He called for the money be diverted to lower corporate taxes as well as the cost of hiring.Many believe that the problem of the worker shortage is not due to welfare benefits, but poor pay and working conditions.Tourism, which is responsible for approximately 13% of the Italian GDP, has a poor reputation.Employees complain that they are paid on the books without having the formal employment status required to be eligible for COVID-19-specific schemes and ordinary social security benefits.Giuseppe from Catania, Sicily, did not want his surname to be revealed. He said that he worked in pizzerias for 10 years and was tired of not having a contract.All cash was in hand. He said that thirty euros was required for work from early morning to late at night. They will need to offer regular contracts if they want to hire more workers.Roberto Sabato is the leader of Oltre la piazza, a rights group for seasonal workers. He says the pandemic caused workers like him to reevaluate their lives.People think that the pandemic will kill me tomorrow and that I've been a slave all my life. Sabato said to Reuters that he doesn't want to continue doing this.It's not just ItalyBusinesses also raised concerns about the lack of labour in Europe's other countries, such as Germany and Greece which are heavily dependent on tourism.After seven months of lockdown, there has been a shortage of labour, according to George Kavvathas, head of Greek restaurants federation. He also said that part of the problem was a government workers support program.According to the German Hotel and Restaurant Association, 30% of the thousands of German hospitality-sector companies that did not reopen in June after lockdowns were lifted, cited staff shortages.According to hospitality and hotel associations, one in four Italian jobs were lost due to the coronavirus in 2020. Some workers might not return.Many people who once worked in tourism are now looking for other work, says Marco Fontanari, a restaurateur and deputy head at Confcommercio, the northern province in Trentino.In Germany, 42% of restaurants and hotels reported that their staff have moved into other areas such as logistics, retail or canteens.Fontanari stated that people are reluctant to return because of the COVID-19 variants.They claim that they would rather wait to see what happens than lose the stability of social security systems.($1 = 0.82375 euros)(Additional reporting by Angeliki Kooutantou in Athens and Emma Thomasson in Berlin, Gavin Jones in Rome, and Gavin Jones in Rome; Editing done by Catherine Evans.Angelo Amante, Reuters writer, was authorized by the Industry Dive publisher network to write this article. All licensing inquiries should be directed to legal@industrydive.com
