Who’d have thought that an industry with shite pay, conditions, hours etc would struggle to recruit staff after laying them off.
I don’t blame anyone. Hospitality is literally a dread to work in. No respect, just a number in a cog. Granted, it’s handy to meet potential friends as you’re likely all in the same boat.
> Employers have said it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit new staff and they have warned they will face a severe crisis over the summer if the government does not extend visa permissions to allow students to remain in the country beyond the end of May.
And where will those students stay with accommodation given away to refugees even if deposits for the summer have been paid?
They stopped short of demanding pensioners be forced into these low payed jobs.
Edit to add twenty years ago it might have been possible to get a mortgage in a standard hospitality role, but it has long since become dependent on transitory workers.
So what’s the problem with doing the obvious and improving the pay and conditions?
Same as for airports
“Oh no, the inevitable consequences of our actions!”
Ive worked in bars and nightclubs for about 6 years never really was fond of them but moved to a hotel about 2/3 months ago now and absolutely love it. Granted the hours arent great but pay is decent we get fed at work we get tips (although we are only allowed to receive cash tips) nobody looking over your shoulder while you work. As for the dealing with public part youre always going to get one or two assholes anywhere you go in life surely you cant let these one or two people ruin an entire day/shift for you. Maybe I got lucky with getting decent employers but I dont get all this negativity around the industry.
It’s actually an excellent article worth reading in it’s entirety, but for those here just for the comment thread, a few snippets that stand out:
>One bartender she spoke to for 2017 research told her they had walked 30,000 steps in one shift, while room service workers in hotels spoke of how physically demanding their job was and how the level of heavy lifting they had to do was not appreciated.
…
>Instead of giving people higher wages, the work has actually intensified for people even more. And time is not measured by the clock but by task, so if you work in a hotel and you were doing five rooms in an hour, they could decide to make that seven rooms in an hour. The rooms have to be done – and done well – so if you’re not finished you’re working through your lunch break.
…
>Dr Bobek pointed to a disparity in earnings between workers in the accommodation and food sector at €397 per week at the end of 2021, compared to weekly wages in the wholesale and retail trade sector (at €654 per week) which many of these employees would have transferable skills for.
>She said that while unsociable hours are an unavoidable factor in hospitality, workers in other sectors who work nights and weekends are compensated with higher rates of pay and this is not something that is taken into account in many hospitality roles.
…
>“When I started working in hospitality 25 years ago, a chef, waiter or barman could actually get a mortgage; this has not been the case in the last good few years as the wages don’t meet the criteria for a mortgage in Ireland,” he said.
>Pay is a significant factor, he said, as the job is stressful and physically demanding, but some in the industry are expected to **work between 10 and 20 hours a week for free.**
Margins are tiny for hospitality. Any improvement in pay is going directly to the customer, Im personally happy to pay more for good food but many are not. The unsociable hours and demanding clients arent going anywhere though.
Social justice Ireland reckon about 13 quid is the living wage in dublin, if a normal restaurant wanted to pay that to all staff youre looking at about 50 quid a head + drinks for a meal in a mid tier restaurant, up from the 30 its at now.
In a pub you’re looking at 7 euro a pint for commercial and 9 euro for craft.
Disgusting to see this industry clamoring to get Ukrainian refugees hired, they aren’t doing it for any kind of good reason, just plain old exploitation of those in a bad situation. I hope these businesses that treat their staff so poorly fail.
10 comments
Who’d have thought that an industry with shite pay, conditions, hours etc would struggle to recruit staff after laying them off.
I don’t blame anyone. Hospitality is literally a dread to work in. No respect, just a number in a cog. Granted, it’s handy to meet potential friends as you’re likely all in the same boat.
> Employers have said it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit new staff and they have warned they will face a severe crisis over the summer if the government does not extend visa permissions to allow students to remain in the country beyond the end of May.
And where will those students stay with accommodation given away to refugees even if deposits for the summer have been paid?
They stopped short of demanding pensioners be forced into these low payed jobs.
Edit to add twenty years ago it might have been possible to get a mortgage in a standard hospitality role, but it has long since become dependent on transitory workers.
So what’s the problem with doing the obvious and improving the pay and conditions?
Same as for airports
“Oh no, the inevitable consequences of our actions!”
Ive worked in bars and nightclubs for about 6 years never really was fond of them but moved to a hotel about 2/3 months ago now and absolutely love it. Granted the hours arent great but pay is decent we get fed at work we get tips (although we are only allowed to receive cash tips) nobody looking over your shoulder while you work. As for the dealing with public part youre always going to get one or two assholes anywhere you go in life surely you cant let these one or two people ruin an entire day/shift for you. Maybe I got lucky with getting decent employers but I dont get all this negativity around the industry.
It’s actually an excellent article worth reading in it’s entirety, but for those here just for the comment thread, a few snippets that stand out:
>One bartender she spoke to for 2017 research told her they had walked 30,000 steps in one shift, while room service workers in hotels spoke of how physically demanding their job was and how the level of heavy lifting they had to do was not appreciated.
…
>Instead of giving people higher wages, the work has actually intensified for people even more. And time is not measured by the clock but by task, so if you work in a hotel and you were doing five rooms in an hour, they could decide to make that seven rooms in an hour. The rooms have to be done – and done well – so if you’re not finished you’re working through your lunch break.
…
>Dr Bobek pointed to a disparity in earnings between workers in the accommodation and food sector at €397 per week at the end of 2021, compared to weekly wages in the wholesale and retail trade sector (at €654 per week) which many of these employees would have transferable skills for.
>She said that while unsociable hours are an unavoidable factor in hospitality, workers in other sectors who work nights and weekends are compensated with higher rates of pay and this is not something that is taken into account in many hospitality roles.
…
>“When I started working in hospitality 25 years ago, a chef, waiter or barman could actually get a mortgage; this has not been the case in the last good few years as the wages don’t meet the criteria for a mortgage in Ireland,” he said.
>Pay is a significant factor, he said, as the job is stressful and physically demanding, but some in the industry are expected to **work between 10 and 20 hours a week for free.**
Margins are tiny for hospitality. Any improvement in pay is going directly to the customer, Im personally happy to pay more for good food but many are not. The unsociable hours and demanding clients arent going anywhere though.
Social justice Ireland reckon about 13 quid is the living wage in dublin, if a normal restaurant wanted to pay that to all staff youre looking at about 50 quid a head + drinks for a meal in a mid tier restaurant, up from the 30 its at now.
In a pub you’re looking at 7 euro a pint for commercial and 9 euro for craft.
Disgusting to see this industry clamoring to get Ukrainian refugees hired, they aren’t doing it for any kind of good reason, just plain old exploitation of those in a bad situation. I hope these businesses that treat their staff so poorly fail.