For jobs in tourism and hospitality from the beginning of this year until the end of September, more than 6,500 job positions were advertised on the MojPosao portal, which is 27 percent more than last year, accompanied by a ‘peak’ in the inability to find a sufficient number of qualified workers during the season, and next year will be even more demanding, it was announced on Thursday from that portal.
Job ads in tourism and hospitality this year accounted for more than one-fifth of all ads on the MojPosao portal, from which they also highlight that this year they registered 5,300 new resumes in the tourism database, bringing the total to nearly 93 thousand.
Most sought-after professions
The highest number of individuals, according to profiles in the resume database, are interested in jobs as receptionists, waiters, travel agency employees, in reservations, and for the position of housekeeper.
The most sought-after professions this year were waiter/bartender, chef, kitchen assistant, housekeeper/cleaner, assistant cook, and receptionist, with over 91 thousand applications recorded for tourism job ads, which is 10 percent more than last year.
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– Employers in tourism offered fixed-term contracts the most this year, in over 60 percent of ads, although this is slightly less than last year when it was offered in 70 percent of ads. At the same time, in 45 percent of ads, or more than last year, permanent employment was offered, while 23 percent of ads were for freelance or seasonal workers, according to data from the MojPosao portal, noting that it was possible to mark multiple types of employment.
On the other hand, job seekers were mostly, 68 percent, interested in indefinite work, 49 percent for fixed-term work, while 24 percent of workers were ready for seasonal and freelance work, and 8 percent were looking for student jobs.
– Salaries in tourism are still among the lowest-paid professions, on average 22 percent lower than the average, emphasize the MojPosao portal.
According to the data provided, among the most sought-after professions in tourism, chefs have the highest salaries, slightly over 4,800 kuna, while receptionists had average salaries of around 4,200 kuna, and waiters 3,992 kuna.
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Of the total jobs published in the ‘Tourism and Hospitality’ category on the MojPosao portal, half were in coastal counties, but the highest number of advertised job positions was in Zagreb and Zagreb County, nearly 30 percent, while 14 percent of ads followed from Split-Dalmatia and Istria counties with 12 percent. From Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, 10 percent of these jobs were advertised, 7 percent from Dubrovnik-Neretva County, 5 percent from Zadar County, and only 3 percent from Šibenik-Knin County. Among the coastal cities, the highest number of job positions this year was advertised in Split and Dubrovnik, followed by Poreč and Pula.
Employers for these jobs, in the majority of ads, 43 percent, sought minimally qualified workers, in 32 percent of ads a minimum secondary education was required, and only in 2 percent of ads was a minimum higher education required.
In 54 percent of ads, work experience was not a requirement, and where it was required, an average of one year and ten months of work experience was needed.
Knowledge of foreign languages was required in 37 percent of ads, primarily English, followed by German and Italian, while knowledge of computer skills was required in only 13 percent of ads.
– Employment in tourism and hospitality this season has reached a peak of the inability to find a sufficient number of qualified workers. An additional complicating factor is that employers often have to find workers in very short timeframes, and traveling for job interviews is a significant financial burden for candidates, state the MojPosao portal.
Increase in the quota for importing workers
They also announce that due to such problems, they will hold the second Virtual Job Fair in tourism in February next year, to facilitate contacts between employers and candidates and save time on selection and candidates’ travel costs.
Assessing that next year will be even more demanding due to greater employer needs and fewer job seekers, the MojPosao portal warns and advises employers to use the available tools and improve working conditions, and the Croatian government to increase quotas for importing workers.
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– We ask the government to increase the quotas for importing workers as a short-term measure and to verify the actual situation at the HZZ with ‘mandatory’ training and retraining. Job seekers, accept training; only in this way can the future be better, says MojPosao director Igor Žonja.
