The Uncertainty of Service Staff and Recruitment Issues in the Hospitality Industry
Recruitment in the hospitality industry has always been quite a challenge to manage.
From filling posts to maintaining them, improving standards for employees and even creating new roles for the well-deserved servers, the hospitality industry cannot thrive alone on the expertise of the kitchen, there are many other factors that add to a diner’s experience, one very important one being the service of a night. When service falls flat, there’s a great chance customers will not return to an establishment, even though the food and atmosphere were delightful.
2021 gave local restaurants a huge, eye-opening peek into the realities of unsteady recruitment and the underlying issues within the hospitality industry. And, as time goes by and restaurants return to practically normal expectations, the service sector is still lagging far, far behind.
Let’s look at the reasons behind Malta’s current service staff employment crisis in the hospitality industry as a whole, breaking down the walls and taboos that many seem to tip-toe around, but let’s do this from the employee’s point of view.
Facts are facts. The service staff for catering, hotels and the hospitality industry as a whole in Malta is predominantly foreign. And by foreign, we’re referring to residents of Malta, who may have very well lived here for a long time, raised families here and even learned the language, but are not inherently Maltese. The majority of these hospitality workers rent lodging in Malta while working 40+ hours a week for a minimum wage. A feat which is near impossible, but it brings food to the table, shelter for their growing families and distance from their country of origin.
All third country nationals are generally set on full-time employment contracts, as work permits are only issued on this basis, but when the havoc and uncertainty of COVID-19 belted down on Mata’s entertainment industry as it did with the rest of the world, no full-time contract could predict the desolation in the hospitality industry. Employees were cut off, given reduced hours, made redundant, offered other work and kept on government benefits, all for lower income and an even more deafening toll on the struggles of survival. The most imminent solution for such hospitality workers: leave Malta.
And so they did, with mid 2020 to early 2021 seeing Malta’s greatest exodus of able workers leave the country. With their inability to provide for themselves and their families, hospitality workers returned to their home countries, where even though life may not be as they had been experiencing in Malta, survival was more realistic with family support eliminating the need for astronomical rental prices and extortionate basic needs such as grocery shopping or amenities, compared to minimum wage earnings for full time work.
COVID’s distractions seemed to dull down, mid 2021, just in time for the summer rush, but the workforce never seemed to return. With a peak in hospitality slowly trickling in, how were the entertainment sources in Malta, one of the island’s biggest economic contributors, supposed to jump start and pick up where they left off without any trained staff?
There were great setbacks attached to the pandemic, but perhaps, the standstill of restaurants, hotels and other entertainment outlets was the most devastating to the local economy. We spoke to Martin Spiteri, Operations Manager at M Recruitment and Michela Tanti, Acting HR & Training Manager at The Excelsior Hotel, and picked their brains on the recruitment issue from the employer’s point of view. Their first-hand experience and in-depth view of the subject allowed for a thorough and well-mapped out analysis of Malta’s recruitment crisis in the hospitality industry. Here’s what they had to say.
All third country nationals are generally set on full-time employment contracts, as work permits are only issued on this basis, but when the havoc and uncertainty of COVID-19 belted down on Mata’s entertainment industry as it did with the rest of the world, no full-time contract could predict the desolation in the hospitality industry. Employees were cut off, given reduced hours, made redundant, offered other work and kept on government benefits, all for lower income and an even more deafening toll on the struggles of survival. The most imminent solution for such hospitality workers: leave Malta.
And so they did, with mid 2020 to early 2021 seeing Malta’s greatest exodus of able workers leave the country. With their inability to provide for themselves and their families, hospitality workers returned to their home countries, where even though life may not be as they had been experiencing in Malta, survival was more realistic with family support eliminating the need for astronomical rental prices and extortionate basic needs such as grocery shopping or amenities, compared to minimum wage earnings for full time work.
COVID’s distractions seemed to dull down, mid 2021, just in time for the summer rush, but the workforce never seemed to return. With a peak in hospitality slowly trickling in, how were the entertainment sources in Malta, one of the island’s biggest economic contributors, supposed to jump start and pick up where they left off without any trained staff?
There were great setbacks attached to the pandemic, but perhaps, the standstill of restaurants, hotels and other entertainment outlets was the most devastating to the local economy. We spoke to Martin Spiteri, Operations Manager at M Recruitment and Michela Tanti, Acting HR & Training Manager at The Excelsior Hotel, and picked their brains on the recruitment issue from the employer’s point of view. Their first-hand experience and in-depth view of the subject allowed for a thorough and well-mapped out analysis of Malta’s recruitment crisis in the hospitality industry. Here’s what they had to say.
What do you think of the current recruitment issue? Why do you think it happened? Could it have been avoided?
The issues we are today facing in the recruitment of hospitality staff happened for a number of reasons. Firstly, during the pandemic the country and the industry lost thousands of people. In May, when everything reopened, everyone was short on staff and the travel restrictions across the globe made things a lot more difficult to control.
Visa permissions were delayed due to Visa Offices having to close, quarantine for unvaccinated people enforced and other limiting factors which caused recruitment issues across every sector in the country, especially the hospitality industry. We couldn’t ask new recruits to pay for quarantine hotels, for example.
This entire scenario would have been incredibly hard to avoid, especially since third country nationals left Malta’s shores when they were left without work. What could have taken place is some planning ahead to mitigate the issues, but even those who tried to think proactively are currently facing the same issues. Nobody ever anticipated that things would take so long to return to ‘normal’.
How can employers avoid this crisis? What does the industry need to regularise recruitment in the hospitality industry?
At the moment employers have their hands tied. This was all entirely unprecedented. We’ve made mistakes and learnt from them, but at this point in time some employers are still making the same mistakes. The idea of immediate recruitment is still an issue, employers would rather employ someone ‘now’ rather than wait for the right recruit within a few weeks’ wait.
The reality of poaching is also rather prevalent at the moment, with inflated salaries being offered to an unsustainable degree. This is a factor that needs to be addressed with brackets for guidelines within the industry. We do have a major disadvantage in salaries and other benefits when compared to other European countries and currently Malta’s salaries are unrealistic.
How does your business, as a recruitment agency, plan to avoid this issue in the future?
As an agency, we have not allowed the situation to take us off track. We consider ourselves one of the main players for recruitment within the hospitality industry and believe that it is our core business. Through thick and thin, we still made sure to practice our core values. We invest our time to make sure that the right candidate is picked for the right job and never compromise quality. We look at experience, not nationality or any other factors that in essence do not equal success and retention. This is what we believe will be the golden ticket to the future of the industry.
The issues we are today facing in the recruitment of hospitality staff happened for a number of reasons. Firstly, during the pandemic the country and the industry lost thousands of people. In May, when everything reopened, everyone was short on staff and the travel restrictions across the globe made things a lot more difficult to control.
Visa permissions were delayed due to Visa Offices having to close, quarantine for unvaccinated people enforced and other limiting factors which caused recruitment issues across every sector in the country, especially the hospitality industry. We couldn’t ask new recruits to pay for quarantine hotels, for example.
This entire scenario would have been incredibly hard to avoid, especially since third country nationals left Malta’s shores when they were left without work. What could have taken place is some planning ahead to mitigate the issues, but even those who tried to think proactively are currently facing the same issues. Nobody ever anticipated that things would take so long to return to ‘normal’.
How can employers avoid this crisis? What does the industry need to regularise recruitment in the hospitality industry?
At the moment employers have their hands tied. This was all entirely unprecedented. We’ve made mistakes and learnt from them, but at this point in time some employers are still making the same mistakes. The idea of immediate recruitment is still an issue, employers would rather employ someone ‘now’ rather than wait for the right recruit within a few weeks’ wait.
The reality of poaching is also rather prevalent at the moment, with inflated salaries being offered to an unsustainable degree. This is a factor that needs to be addressed with brackets for guidelines within the industry. We do have a major disadvantage in salaries and other benefits when compared to other European countries and currently Malta’s salaries are unrealistic.
How does your business, as a recruitment agency, plan to avoid this issue in the future?
As an agency, we have not allowed the situation to take us off track. We consider ourselves one of the main players for recruitment within the hospitality industry and believe that it is our core business. Through thick and thin, we still made sure to practice our core values. We invest our time to make sure that the right candidate is picked for the right job and never compromise quality. We look at experience, not nationality or any other factors that in essence do not equal success and retention. This is what we believe will be the golden ticket to the future of the industry.
What do you think of the current recruitment issue? Why do you think it happened? Could it have been avoided?
Recruitment has been a problem for ages, not only because of the pandemic. These shortages at operation level were generally covered by third country nationals as it’s become far easier to outsource labour licenses. The insecurity that came about due to the first lockdown gave third country nationals, especially the Eastern Europeans, a quick call to return home due to the fear of insecurity.
We all thought it was a short-term thing, but one of the biggest hits for Malta was when last August, the UK put the country on the red list. From a hotel’s point of view, this was challenging. The hospitality industry was the ‘unstable industry’ in COVID times where many pay cuts happened, causing people to move on and out of the industry in general. The enrollment gap gave these job seekers new possibilities as every department had some sort of gap to fill. As a major rule there is more employment in the public sector, so the private sector suffers greatly as a result.
The only thing that employers could have done to alleviate some of the burdens we are facing today, in hindsight, might have been not to let people go, renew contracts and keep paying people in full. But the insecurity made it irresponsible to keep payroll on without the need for work.
How can employers avoid this crisis? What does the industry need to regularise recruitment in the hospitality industry?
The number of staff has reduced greatly, so this crisis should not happen again. And although that might sound like wishful thinking, we are fully aware and prepared to react accordingly with a clear goal in mind. The only way to avoid this from happening again is to ensure that your employment measures are sustainable and regularised. The hotel industry is as regularised as it gets - what we need to understand is the influx of guests in and out of the country after the strains of the pandemic.
How does your business plan to avoid this issue in the future?
We have been working to accommodate the business that we can in line with available staffing and resources. We are also maximising on staff flexibility, and are training them to work in various sections within their departments. The crisis gave us the opportunity to upskill our people, with some situations even resulting in promotions for some of our staff. Ultimately, our goal is to be responsible for the jobs we create, maximising the industry potential as a whole while nurturing our staff in the most inclusive environments possible.
All in all, what we need in hopes that the hospitality industry in Malta will continue to thrive as it has always done, is to understand value. The value of a role in a company, the value of a job for a worker, the value of reassurance for a community and the value of living in a country. When value is added to the basic factors in which we live our lives, processes will continue to grow and evolve and even thrive.
Malta’s restaurants need to return to their glory days of Summer 2019, when packed venues were the place to be, hotel bookings were unable to keep up and bars were the usual for both weekends and weeknights! But the truth remains… is Malta ready to take on the surge of patrons just yet, or will the industry simply fall to its knees in surrender to the lack of staff?
Kristina Cassar Dowling
Kristina Cassar Dowling is a journalist, blogger and writer who focuses on food culture, the arts and sustainable lifestyles - her biggest passions in life. Kristina is a freelance writer who also focuses on human stories, business and other niches.
Click here to see Horeca Issue 6 online
Recruitment has been a problem for ages, not only because of the pandemic. These shortages at operation level were generally covered by third country nationals as it’s become far easier to outsource labour licenses. The insecurity that came about due to the first lockdown gave third country nationals, especially the Eastern Europeans, a quick call to return home due to the fear of insecurity.
We all thought it was a short-term thing, but one of the biggest hits for Malta was when last August, the UK put the country on the red list. From a hotel’s point of view, this was challenging. The hospitality industry was the ‘unstable industry’ in COVID times where many pay cuts happened, causing people to move on and out of the industry in general. The enrollment gap gave these job seekers new possibilities as every department had some sort of gap to fill. As a major rule there is more employment in the public sector, so the private sector suffers greatly as a result.
The only thing that employers could have done to alleviate some of the burdens we are facing today, in hindsight, might have been not to let people go, renew contracts and keep paying people in full. But the insecurity made it irresponsible to keep payroll on without the need for work.
How can employers avoid this crisis? What does the industry need to regularise recruitment in the hospitality industry?
The number of staff has reduced greatly, so this crisis should not happen again. And although that might sound like wishful thinking, we are fully aware and prepared to react accordingly with a clear goal in mind. The only way to avoid this from happening again is to ensure that your employment measures are sustainable and regularised. The hotel industry is as regularised as it gets - what we need to understand is the influx of guests in and out of the country after the strains of the pandemic.
How does your business plan to avoid this issue in the future?
We have been working to accommodate the business that we can in line with available staffing and resources. We are also maximising on staff flexibility, and are training them to work in various sections within their departments. The crisis gave us the opportunity to upskill our people, with some situations even resulting in promotions for some of our staff. Ultimately, our goal is to be responsible for the jobs we create, maximising the industry potential as a whole while nurturing our staff in the most inclusive environments possible.
All in all, what we need in hopes that the hospitality industry in Malta will continue to thrive as it has always done, is to understand value. The value of a role in a company, the value of a job for a worker, the value of reassurance for a community and the value of living in a country. When value is added to the basic factors in which we live our lives, processes will continue to grow and evolve and even thrive.
Malta’s restaurants need to return to their glory days of Summer 2019, when packed venues were the place to be, hotel bookings were unable to keep up and bars were the usual for both weekends and weeknights! But the truth remains… is Malta ready to take on the surge of patrons just yet, or will the industry simply fall to its knees in surrender to the lack of staff?
Kristina Cassar Dowling
Kristina Cassar Dowling is a journalist, blogger and writer who focuses on food culture, the arts and sustainable lifestyles - her biggest passions in life. Kristina is a freelance writer who also focuses on human stories, business and other niches.
Click here to see Horeca Issue 6 online
