Date Published: 06/07/2021
ARCHIVED - Bars and restaurants face fresh challenge in Alicante amid shortage of staff
ARCHIVED ARTICLE 'Comfortable ERTE' and lack of training is being blamed for a lack of waiting staff in Alicante on the Costa Blanca.
As restrictions are progressively relaxed and more and more bars and restaurants in Alicante are back in business, many face a new challenge as they struggle to find experienced waiters and waitresses.
Establishments are reportedly "desperately" looking for staff, with hundreds of job vacancies advertised every week, a situation which has been attributed to a 'comfortable ERTE' system, prompting calls for a new hospitality agreement.
In the last week alone, an online jobs platform has offered more than 100 positions at bars and restaurants in Alicante, with little response, along with hundreds more "Urgent waiter needed" advertisements on social media and WhatsApp groups.
"The sector itself is having serious problems finding waiters, it's a reality we are all experiencing. I think the problem is that the ERTEs have done quite a lot of damage," says César Anca, president of the Alicante Restaurant Association (ARA).
The ARA lists three important factors it believes has led to the current shortage of staff willing to work: the recent 'comfort' in the ERTE system as restricted opening hours and capacity levels meaning employees would need overtime to earn what they are currently receiving from the government; a lack of professionalism in the sector; and the need for an agreement to better regulate conditions.
The association wants to see better training opportunities to tackle a "lack of professionalism", as "not all staff in this sector are specialised in cocktails or as baristas" and lack sales techniques or traditional ham slicing skills, for example.
"It is not that the waiters have all gone to live abroad or changed professions, it's about ERTE, working conditions, training and salary", adds Anca, stressing that employers and unions need to draw up a new hotel and catering agreement to address the issues.
Nightlife venues on the Costa Blanca are also finding it difficult to find staff, because a "full night shift does not currently exist", with many establishments only able to offer four hours a night over the weekend, according to Valencia region's Business Coordinator of Leisure and Hospitality (CEOH), made up of around 30 associations in the sector.
Despite the difficulties within the hospitality sector, there were 5,662 less people unemployed in Alicante in June.
IMAGE: Archive