Seeking the right tourism job

“Summer job Mykonos,” “Hotel maid” – such phrases are systematically repeated by Greek users during their searches on the internet.

“In 2022, we had an increase in searches compared to 2021 in the main specialties of the hotel industry, as reflected on the Google platform,” comments Stavros Kefalas, head of Tourix, who studies the phenomenon.

For example, for the position of maitre, the increase in searches compared to 2021 reached 127%, for maintenance they were up 87%, for waiters/bartenders it was 74%, for cooks 71% etc.

“The era of lockdowns has now passed, along with the financial support to hotel employees, so the increase in interest is reasonable,” notes Argiris Daouliaris, general manager of operation and quality at a large hotel chain and founder of the platform Innjobs.net, which connects 10,000 registered job seekers with 1,100 hotel groups for free.

There is optimism in the tourism industry, however, the 50,000 vacancies, which caused a headache last year, are estimated to grow to 61,000 this year. The pandemic has brought to the surface the pathologies of the industry – the excruciating hours, the undeclared labor, the loss of privileges – causing many professionals to switch industries and many employers to find themselves at a loss.

“People who used to work as waiters today work as couriers. Many groups are trying to establish partnerships with people from Moldova or the Philippines, but the bureaucratic obstacles are insurmountable,” is how he describes the situation himself, about four months before the new season.

On Saturday, the 4th Human Resources Forum in the hotel industry, organized by Innjobs, opens at the Wyndham Grand Athens hotel, aiming to bring the two sides into contact and contribute to the best possible pairings. “At the previous event, 850 people had interviews, many of which resulted in hirings,” he said. 

The range of services required for a competitive tourism product is constantly growing. Therefore, new ones have been added to the classic specialties, such as maid or receptionist. “Specialties related to spa tourism are in great demand, as well as everything related to food and beverage, a la carte chefs, high-end confectioners, sommeliers etc,” he explains.