The gray side of employment in tourism
In 2019, a record year for tourism, 152,787 people received seasonal unemployment benefits. Last year, the number increased to 172,485 people.
In fact, of those who received the seasonal allowance in the last five years, 43% received it only once, pointing to a significant renewal of staff; they do not invest in specialization and skill upgrading, but look for opportunistic money, often off the books, offering uninsured labor in cahoots with their employers.
Therefore, a seasonal hotel employee with no previous experience is paid a salary between 965 and 1,052 euros gross and if he works up to 100 days he still gets €1,631.20 as an unemployment benefit.
