PARIS: Recruiting and training staff for a full summer team is a major concern for hoteliers and restaurant owners, facing a staff shortage in the weeks before the tourist season when they expect excellent attendance .

“The indicator is green”, notes Jean-Virgile Crance, president of the National Group of Hotel Chains (GNC), who said strong bookings for the Ascension and Pentecost weekends signaled a “beautiful season 2022”, brought in by clients of “more than 70% “France, he said at BFM Business.

“The desire to travel is much stronger than we imagined 5-6 months ago. The hotels, I hope, will be absolutely full this summer,” said Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin recently.

“We still need to attract a number of people who have not returned, for various valid reasons (…) we are losing 15 to 20% of talent in hotels,” he said.

In fact “difficulty in hiring” is “a major concern of our professionals, at least as far as seasonal workers are concerned”, Mr. Crance. Some, failing to manage to form a team large enough to offer service 7 days a week, had to shut down one or two days a week, he said.

As summer approaches, some professionals opt for seduction operations: Louvre Hotels Group (Campanile, Kyriad, Première Classe and Golden Tulip, etc.), a subsidiary of China’s Jin Jiang group, organizes a national recruitment day on Thursday in eight metropolises, to fill 200 positions.

Around 80 employees will greet candidates with “gourmet coffee” and introduce them to seasonal or permanent jobs to fill: receptionist, cook, executive assistant…

“We wanted to show that we are recruiting a very diverse profile, in retraining, without experience or away from work, and that there are tremendous career opportunities in this sector”, said Laura Benoumechiara, human resources person in France.

The group, which has set up its 13th month and profit-sharing, is experimenting with four days a week to keep its employees.