This article is from page 10 of the 2014-07-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
HOTELIERS and guesthouse owners in Clare are reporting a serious shortage of qualified, entry-level staff in the tourism sector, even though there are more than 8,000 people on the live register in the county.
One Ennis hotelier says he is now finding it so difficult to find staff, that he will hire unqualified personnel, provided they have some experience.
The Irish Hotels Federation’s (IHF) quarterly barometer findings revealed that nearly three quarters of business owners in the sector were having difficulties in recruiting qualified staff to fill entry level positions.
Speaking to The Clare People last week, owner of the Rowan Tree in Ennis, Brian O’Neill stated that he would be happy to take on people without a qualification if they had experience.
“Finding chefs and kitchen staff has been quite difficult recently.
“I had a position looking for kitchen staff for a good while, thankfully I managed to hire someone recently,” he said.
“But I have to say that a qualification isn’t everything, I would happily take someone who has a good deal of experience. And without a doubt personality goes a long way in the industry.”
The IHF report shows that 86 per cent of hoteliers are indicating a positive outlook for bookings this year, but those in the industry claim that filling these positions will be difficult because of the industries unglamorous reputation as well as lack of work being done with third level colleges to attract young people into the sector.
Speaking last week, head of the Shannon branch of the IHF, Matthias Muller, said that the lack of qualified staff will significantly hinder the prospect of increasing jobs in the tourism sector in the future.
“As we seek to secure growth in the tourism industry, the barrier to stifle that growth must be addressed. We can build the tourism industry from strength to strength as long as we continue to have the right environment to encourage domestic and overseas visitors and continue to invest in pro-tourism marketing measures,” he said.
Hoteliers and guesthouse owners in Clare could see more qualified staff coming on stream in the years ahead following the announcement of plans for a training centre to be built in Limerick.