Young people shun Irish hotel industry

03 February 2000 by
Young people shun Irish hotel industry

Irish hoteliers are targeting foreigners, women working at home and the long-term unemployed to cope with a shortfall of 9,000 staff.

Young Irish people are shunning the industry, and two out of five restaurants and more than half of Ireland's hotels now employ foreigners, says tourism training authority CERT.

Growth forecasts for the next five years suggest 105,000 more workers will be needed on top of replacements for 25% of staff leaving the Irish hotel industry.

In 1996, Irish hotels employed 38,915 people; by 1999, the number had risen to 53,906. The number of restaurant staff rose from 26,000 to 40,000 in the same period.

CERT chairman Eamonn McKeon said poor pay and long hours were a perception rather a reality, and many employers were offering £5 an hour.

But Eamon Doyle, owner of the Park House hotel in Galway, said: "It's all about pay."

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking