“Spanish people do not give up going out during Holy Week,” says José Luis Yzuel, president of Hospitality of Spain. Based on the growth forecasts for the tourism and hospitality sector for the Easter season that began this weekend, he is not wrong. His own employers estimate business growth of 10% compared to the same period last year, which was already a record, above pre-pandemic data.
More occupancy and, therefore, more need for staff, which could mean more risk of encountering unfilled vacancies. However, it is not the case. The Infojobs job portal shows that in February, at the gates of Easter, the number of unfilled job vacancies remains at 16,704, which is 11% less than in the same month of 2023. On the other hand, where They find “the biggest problem is incorporating trained people” into the workforce of these tourism and hospitality companies.
This dilemma occurs in a sector that is at maximum occupancy. In fact, tourism employment has not fallen below 2.5 million jobs since March 2023, a record number. In the month of February alone they grew by 4.9%, according to Turespaña. “Pre-pandemic records will be improved. 2023 was already a record year and this year the upward trend will continue,” says Mónica Pérez, director of studies at InfoJobs.
The work context has changed towards greater stability and less difficulty in filling positions. As Infojobs itself explains, two factors must be taken into account in this decline: “the first half of 2023 was marked by the general upward trend in employment and by the impact of the labor reform on the distribution of contracts.” Those that are permanent now represent 40% of the tourism sector, compared to the 27% they represented in 2021. And the use of discontinuous permanent contracts has skyrocketed, which were 1% three years ago and now represent 24% of the hirings.
“There is an offer, in the hospitality industry we are going to incorporate 200,000 people for the season from Easter until the end of summer,” says Yzuel. But it is less burdensome to cover this offer than it was in the post-pandemic years. The remaining vacancies are, as the president assumes, for very specific positions, partial contracts or seasonal jobs.
“Our staff is very stable throughout the year, derived from the combination of urban and island hotels, where occupancy is maintained throughout the year,” says the Hesperia hotel company. Meliá and Barceló estimate that they will hire around 1,500-2,000 people, “in line with last year,” they point out at Barceló, also marking this trend towards stability.
“Right now, in a growth environment, one of the main risks is talent management,” says José Manuel Fernández Terán, partner responsible for the tourism sector at PwC.
The hotel company Hotusa states along the same lines: “We consider that the main challenge in the sector is the attraction and retention of talent. From the group, we believe that it is necessary to promote internal training and promotion, as well as work on new educational models such as dual training to attract and train committed and specialized personnel.”
“The situation has improved, without a doubt, but we still have to correct the partiality of the contracts and ensure that the days are not extended more than stipulated,” claims Gonzalo Fuentes, head of hospitality and tourism at CC.OO. “Now that we are growing, it is time to invest in training and in building employee loyalty, giving them a journey in the company so that workers see that they have a professional future,” says Omar Rodríguez, head of the hospitality and tourism sector at UGT. Fuentes, from CC.OO., adds that training “cannot be seen as an expense but as an investment, it has to be part of the day for it to really work.”
