Those involved in the tourism and food industry are at stake due to the lack of staff and who before the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce have asked the authorities to find immediate solutions, one of which is the extension of the employment order of foreign students.
It was said that based on data from the Limassol EBE, in the next two to three years, Limassol will have a staff needs of up to 7,000.
At the same time, it was reported that the challenges, in addition to finding staff, will be huge this year, as they compete with competitive markets in the Mediterranean, such as Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia.
PASYXE General Manager Zacharias Ioannidis said after the meeting that we are facing the biggest challenge of recent years because we are called to operate in a highly competitive environment. He said that the pressures are huge and where we will be judged catalytically is in the provision of quality services, ie the so-called 'value for money' services.
He said there were serious shortages of trained and unskilled staff and that all involved needed to find ways to staff hotels adequately.
Mr. Ioannidis said that existing professionals should focus on providing quality services and be supported by a range of support staff. According to Mr. Ioannidis, thousands of students studying in Cyprus could be used for auxiliary tasks.
He denied the allegations, saying they were myths. He also said that the reality is reflected in the fact that many employees are moving to other jobs due to better terms and benefits. Mr. Ioannidis did not rule out exceptions, but added that the rule is that good employees are sought after.
He also said that due to the bankruptcy of two German companies, arrivals from Germany will be reduced this year.
The president of the Pancyprian Association of Recreation Center Owners, Fanos Leventis, said that all those involved were making a dramatic appeal for the lack of staff, saying that it was unacceptable for the country's largest industry with the largest contribution to receive this treatment. He said that every year at the beginning of the tourist season the same is said and we always have the same result without substantial solutions.
According to Mr. Leventis, the biggest problem is not wages and the Minister of Labor expressed his conviction to make the right decision and to give students from third countries the opportunity to work on time in June-October based on the decree and to their applications should be considered in a timely manner so that there are no deficiencies. He also expressed the view that if the decree is extended and students are given the right to work for a few hours throughout the year, this may further help the tourism industry.
The Chairman of the Commerce Committee, DISY MP Andreas Kyprianou stated that the tourism and food industry is the locomotive of the place with a huge contribution and today at the meeting their representatives shouted a cry of agony because there is no staff.
The problems, he said, were well-known but have been exacerbated, citing the fact that in Limassol in the coming years the needs amount to 7,000, while the industry currently employs several hundred. Mr. Kyprianou said that the immediate solution proposed by almost all those present is the possibility of employing foreign students in Cypriot universities and faculties. In the medium and long term, he said, the education industry should be treated in the tourism industry, not as an unemployed manufacturing industry.
He said the effort by the Ministry of Education should be in the direction of creating infrastructure for the production of specific specialties to work in the tourism sector.
Mr. Kyprianou also referred to the mentality of many Cypriots who consider it a degradation to work in this industry, saying that the more demand there is, the higher the level of remuneration.
The discussion will continue on April 16 in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Labor.
SOURCE: CIPE