T
ourism
is one of these industries that can
provide workers with a passport to
travel and work all over the world,
I should know having travelled to
no fewer than 30 countries over
the last twenty years. I know of few
careers that provide such an opportunity and I find myself sharing that and other stories with
young industry professionals on a
weekly basis.
Yet, in today’s industry we are
struggling to find staff across the
globe, some countries are finding
it difficult to find good servers and
managers and chefs are notoriously
difficult to find. So I have to ask,
why is this happening? What has
happened to our glorious, vibrant,
bustling industry that now struggles
to find the right teams to lead us
into the next chapter of experiences and dreams?
Recently in Ireland the former
president of the Irish Hotels Federation Michael Vaughan who runs
Vaughan’s Lodge in Lahinch, Co
Clare said the industry was experiencing “serious difficulty” recruiting suitably qualified craft and entry level staff. He said three out of
every four hotels and guesthouses,
or 75 per cent, had reported similar difficulties in hiring trained
workers to fill entry level positions
within their businesses. This compared with 64 per cent who reported difficulties the previous year.
In the UK many leading awardwinning chefs are changing business
practices in order to maintain staffing levels. Nottingham’s two-Michelin star Restaurant Sat Bains announced that, from November, it
will only open for four days a week,
in order to recruit and retain the
best chefs – acknowledging that
even the glamorous end of the in-
dustry is now struggling to find talent. Daniel Clifford, chef-owner at
the two-star Midsummer House in
Cambridge, agreed, warning that if
the chef shortage is not addressed,
“we are going to lose the industry we love”. Meanwhile, writing in
the food periodical Lucky Peach,
Noma’s René Redzepi bemoaned a
macho, abusive kitchen culture that
drives away gifted young chefs. “I’ve
been a bully for a large part of my career,” he confessed.
When the great and the good of this
vibrant industry start to share such
stories it really is time to ask – do
we have a problem and if so, how
can education help?
“I’ve been a bully
for a large part of
my career,” Noma’s
René Redzepi
confessed.
I have worked in higher education
for over twenty years and always in
the Tourism and Hospitality sector. One detail I have learnt very
quickly is that tourism can succeed
anywhere if a culture and people
support it. I lived in Switzerland
for three years. In this wonderful
alpine country it was very clear that
all careers are equal, if you are a
server in a local auberge or the town
pharmacist you are seen as equal by
all citizens and yet serve society for
different reasons. On a recent visit
to Gozo this summer I had the privilege of eating in a family-run restaurant close to the waterside. The
owner welcomed us with real joy
and charm, her young son filleted
the fish and served us: everything
about the experience reminded me
of Switzerland. However this attitude does not extend across the
globe and I fear such culture and
attitude is harming this vibrant industry of ours. Would our staffing
challenges be different if we all lived
as the Swiss and Gozitans do?
I am privileged to be in a position
where I meet people across the
world annually and we frequently
discuss this topic. Annual conferences and forums provide opportunity to engage in dialogue and share
feedback. I do believe in learning
from best practice and sharing examples of the same. Lately I often
hear industry colleagues tell us that
we need more training courses and
I have to ask, why? Do we not offer enough courses? Are our programmes too long or short? Are we
teaching the wrong material? From
Malta to Milan, from Ireland to
Iceland you will find leading Tourism and Hotel Schools offering
programmes to meet our industry needs but are we meeting these
needs if our industry needs more
staff? What is going wrong?
I guess the first place we have to
start is with our programmes and
have we got it wrong? Anyone
working in Hotel Schools throughout the world knows how very important it is that your programmes
are industry-relevant and current:
without this your students are not
industry-ready when they graduate.
In GMIT we have worked diligently with our many stakeholders
over forty years to develop awards
relevant to industry needs. We
have built partnerships with hotel
groups, restaurant organisations,
food entrepreneurs, retail outlets,
event management companies,
beverage operators. Our work with
these colleagues has ensured that
our programmes are current and
industry focused. But is everyone
doing the same?