Failte Ireland spend €5m in effort to plug 40,000 jobs shortfall

Failte Ireland is spending €5m in a bid to make the tourism trade extra “appealing and rewarding” to work in after revealing 40,000 jobs are unfilled.

Official tender paperwork search bids by tomorrow for a contract to help a brand new ‘Excellent Employer’ programme for as much as 2,500 ­corporations inside three years.

The profitable contractor ought to have experience in “employee engagement” and can present a certification programme score companies into classes primarily based on surveys of employees. It may also showcase prime employers.

“The Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on labour supply and skills across the tourism and hospitality industry,” says the tender doc.

“Following the pandemic there are thousands of job vacancies across the tourism and hospitality industry, with a significant loss of skilled workers at all levels across the sector.”

It says the purpose of the employer programme is to “reposition” the sector as “an appealing and rewarding place to work” within the extremely aggressive labour market.

“The goal is that workplace culture across the industry is something that employers view as being as important as the service they provide to their customers,” it says.

Businesses would commit to affix the scheme for 3 years, whereas their managers would practice and work on points highlighted within the annual worker survey.

Chief govt of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins was sceptical in regards to the plan and mentioned €5m was lots to spend on it.

“We would have concerns if this is the policy to try to sort out the staffing issue for hospitality,” he mentioned. “It’s not an method we’d take. Recruiting from exterior the EU needs to be the primary precedence.

“This won’t tackle recruitment. It’s a fluffy campaign that doesn’t do much for our industry. It may look at creating an image for domestic employees but does nothing to sort out the skills shortage in hospitality.”

He claimed the coverage was drawn up with out session with commerce consultant our bodies.

“From my perspective, it’s not awards we want, it’s staff,” he mentioned. “It takes over 21 weeks to get a work permit for someone. If you applied now and had someone lined up, you mightn’t get them until September. In Northern Ireland, they can get them in eight weeks. They’re eating our lunch at the moment.”

He mentioned the employees scarcity is contributing to wage inflation, piling strain on companies.

The Fáilte Ireland tender says nearly 90pc of companies surveyed following the reopening of the sector this 12 months have been having problem recruiting employees.

Of those that might recruit, many mentioned they have been discovering it troublesome to retain employees.

It says one in three staff is new to the sector, “which underlines how great the skills gap is”.

“These factors, as well as competition for skilled workers from other sectors, are having a significant impact on businesses’ ability to recover,” it says.

It says its precedence focus is supporting the trade to recruit and retain the expertise it must drive restoration.

A Fáilte Ireland spokesperson mentioned companies who participate could have the chance to be recognised as prime employers, giving them a aggressive edge in a purple sizzling labour market.

“Fundamentally, it will be the voice and views of the employee that will drive the repositioning of the industry as an appealing and rewarding place to work,” she mentioned.