Israel’s hospitality industry in search for employees

According to Yael Danieli, general manager of the Israel Hotel Association, the industry used to have difficulties at retaining staff even before the pandemic. As Covid-19 put more than 37.500 of the workers on unpaid leave, the industry is now desperately looking to fill vacant positions.

“Due to the ups and downs caused by the closures, the industry lost thousands of workers who abandoned it and moved to other industries.

“[The hotels] will continue to make every effort to recruit Israeli workers, including higher wages and incentives common to most hotels”, Danieli explained.

Nevertheless, as Israelis are not interested in the jobs, the industry intensively looks for waitresses, cooks, receptionists, maintenance and security, as well as maids and housekeepers, as all of these roles make up for almost 28 per cent of hotel staff.

One solution would be turning out to foreign workers, explains Kobby Barda, deputy general director at Israel’s Ministry of Tourism. 5.500 Jordanians, Palestinians and Filipinos are currently working in Israel’s hospitality industry, yet officials hope to boost these figures up to 8.000.

But, things are challenging, because “cleaning in hotels is very hard and abrasive work and, unfortunately, Israelis are not interested in working in it. This was also the case in the past and today the situation has gotten even worse”, declared Danieli.

Barda also commented about the phenomenon:

“Israelis are not usually interested in these kinds of jobs. Even 25 years ago, the government launched an initiative called Avoda Muadefet [Preferential Work], where young Israelis after their army service can choose to work in industries that lack employees, in exchange for a financial grant, but even in this case the results are not impressive.”

At the same time, despite good wages and countless positions available, the industry might face many more challenges in the future. Tamir Kobrin, general manager of The King David Hotel in Jerusalem, explained the down sides of employing foreign workers:

“They are limited in number and what they can do. At some point, the reliance on foreign staffing will grow to a point that will affect service and hospitality, and people will prefer to fly out of the country and go elsewhere.”

Currently, the industry needs additional 10.200 workers in order to fill in all existing jobs and resume activities, as demand is continuously growing. This translates into a 25% increase in the hotels’ total workforce, with a strong percentage represented by maids and cleaning workers, that are extremely difficult to find.

As tourism accounts for a significant part of the country’s GDP, it is imperative that authorities urgently address these shortages and even take further steps to solve the situation.

“[The state must] recognize the importance of the industry and provide incentives, not to the owners but to operators, to develop qualified staff, make the industry a preferred employer and highlight the hospitality industry and how it represents the culture of the country, maybe something will move in the right direction,” Kobrin concluded.

 

source: themedialine.org