There is no paradise without waiters

We will be living dangerously in a strange summer. Full happiness is for most mortals. The first to experience it without any restrictions or masks is the best. Sapiens, the social animal of excellence, longs for closeness and partying without boundaries. Because of our southern climatic conditions, the South's inhabitants and millions of visitors long to share in the party. The sight of forecasts and bookings makes the hotel and tourism industry smile lopsidedly. Spain will be flooded with foreign and Spanish tourists, as it has been in the past. Even the war in Ukraine works in its favor: There are many other European destinations that are less attractive, at least temporarily.

The sector's growth is rapid compared to last, and many indicators are at pre-covid levels, but the party isn't over. We are becoming used to the fact that seemingly innocuous changes that appear in the distance can end up being systemic in this bizarre world we live in, which is the first time since World War II.

They know that there are no waiters and that those who were once employed by the Ertes, many thousands, have not been allowed to return to their jobs after the end. The old 'at least I have my salary and a job' mentality has been broken. What is the matter?

Low wages and long working hours are the main reasons for this serious situation, depending on who you ask. We have changed what we didn't think would happen: our mentality and priorities. A layer of established workers fights for more telecommuting, better conciliation, while the other is tied to tourism and hospitality and confronts a labor reality that stops them from starting this path. It is impossible to make omelette skewers or coffee in slippers using a home computer. There are other solutions.

fewer companies

The expected boom in businessmen will mean that wages and work hours won't be as high. However, the background situation remains suspended until September at most. After that, we'll know. Changes are coming that will impact customers, workers, and companies in ways that were not possible before in France or England. I'm referring to a drastic professionalization of business models, a decrease in small businesses that are dedicated to hospitality and a noticeable increase in prices. Cheap coffees and beers may soon end, limiting access to bars for all social strata. In a different environment of competition and high prices, it will be impossible to duplicate templates in order to provide current working conditions comparable with those in other industries.

Employers in the sector believe that there is still plenty of room for growth, but they also know that they could lose customers if they make them too costly. Coffees are three euros, and beer four. This means that the average consumer who has breakfast every day will either have to choose between two options or not eat it every day. They are the sector that creates the menus of each day, which is the second most affected in the hospitality industry after covid. Their services are declining at the same rate as their 'tupers.'

few vocations

Eurofirms recently conducted a study about the Spanish hospitality industry. It found that only 9% of those who enter the sector by profession will do so in 2022. 60% of those who work in the sector are motivated by a steady income. It is hard to imagine a sector with a steady future if the 9% decline is not reversed. The temporary and young workforce that was once a solution is no more. Although they are smaller, it is because work plays a different role in the order of their priorities than that of their parents.

What can be done to increase demand for vocation? The study found that schedules and work-life balance were the most important factors for 64% of respondents, far more than salary which is 20%.

For most people, the main attraction to the profession is the contact with customers and with people. This is, in my view, a pathway to hope, a path that will lead to the necessary transformations that will ensure the future of the profession: stability, training, schedules, salaries, and salary. Eye. The new generation believes that money is not all that matters.