WILLEMSTAD - The staff shortage in the hospitality and hotel sector in Curaçao is increasing rapidly. Of all available vacancies on the island, 80 percent is related to this. But it is precisely people who have a lot of experience that no longer dare to work in a hotel or restaurant.
This is shown by research conducted by the Curaçao Hospitality and Tourism Association (CHATA). The most recent figures from December show that there are more than 300 vacancies. These are jobs for cleaning staff, front office managers and sous chefs and electricians. “A wide range of jobs,” said CHATA director Maria-Helena Seferina-Rojas.
But there is another problem: some of the people who have experience in the restaurant and hotel world have moved abroad. To solve the shortage, CHATA wants to set up a large-scale training program for job seekers as soon as possible.
Nine thousand jobs lost
In 2020, about 9,000 people in the hospitality industry lost their jobs due to the pandemic. “Businesses sometimes had to say goodbye to half of their workforce or even more. When tourism picked up in June last year and in some months even outperformed pre-Covid-19, there was an immediate need for manpower to serve guests,” said the CHATA director.
Before the corona pandemic, about 18,000 people earned their living in the catering sector. Now even more workers are needed as new hotel properties open such as Sandals Royal Resort and Courtyard Marriott.
“In 2022, the number of hotel rooms on the island will grow by thirty percent. You need 1.5 fte (one and a half work week in labor) per hotel room”, calculates Seferina-Rojas.
The shortage of staff is already noticeable on the island: several restaurants have been forced to adjust their opening hours.
The recently opened Zoetry Hotel is also unable to rent out all rooms due to the staff shortage. “Business owners who want to expand wait with their plans until they have filled the vacancies, in order to keep the quality of service as high as possible.”
Afraid of losing job again
Research among hotels shows that some of the former employees have started doing something else. “They find it scary to work in the same sector again,” says Seferina-Rojas. “The uncertainty that they could lose their job again in a new lockdown plays a part in this. A group has also left the island. Only some of the staff who lost their jobs have returned to work. That is why the shortage is so high.”
“Due to the corona crisis, more than half of all my colleagues lost their jobs by May 2020,” says a female employee. She also lost her job at a hotel in Curaçao where she worked as an assistant manager for security.
“I was one of the few who got an extension of the employment contract. When I had to transfer to permanent employment, they let me go. I received a letter of dismissal indicating that they had no work for me because of Covid-19. When the market picks up again, I would be one of the first to be called.”
She decided to move to the Netherlands, because she saw greater opportunities on the labor market there. Before boarding the plane, she had job interviews at three companies in the Netherlands. In the end I had to make a choice between two companies. Both companies had offered me a contract.”
She is happy with the salary she now earns. She also receives allowances, holiday pay and is building up a good pension. Moreover, she now works in another industry where her heart lies: technology.
“To work in the hospitality industry, you sacrifice a lot. I experienced it when my father passed away in 2020. I was working so much overtime during that period. I was more at work than at home. In the last few months that he was still with us, I had little time to spend with him. What did I get in return? My sacrifices were in vain. After all, I was sent home too.”
"Look at the recovery"
Seferina-Rojas says to employees who are afraid that they will suddenly be on the street during the next lockdown, "to look at the recovery of the sector". “There is no other sector with so much work. In fact, the recovery is much stronger than we dared to dream. I can hardly imagine that there are people who would rather sit at home than at work.”
Large-scale training program on the way
Due to the outbreak of the pandemic, CHATA had to terminate the 'Kla pa Turismo' (Ready for tourism) trajectory early in 2020. Three hundred job seekers would receive training to become kitchen assistants, waiters, security assistants and cleaning assistants.
CHATA wants to set up another large-scale training program with the Ministries of Social Development, Labor and Welfare (SOAW) and Economic Development (MEO). Job seekers and long-term unemployed are trained in a short period of time to get started in the hospitality industry.
The catering trade union Horecaf also has plans for a training program.
