On the facade of bars and restaurants, in Instagram stories and on job portals. The “Waiter Wanted” ads are everywhere, which shows that the lack of staff continues to be one of the main challenges in the hospitality sector. This was also defended by a study published a few weeks ago by Arcano Research, which concluded that in the period from 2019 to 2023, Spanish bars and restaurants have lost no less than 32,000 employees.
Faced with this difficult situation, hoteliers have had to get creative to attract workers. In the last 15 days, more than 1,000 waiter offers have been published on Infojobs, of which 194 have been shared by establishments in Madrid and 170 in Barcelona. In some of them, in addition to being transparent with salary and hours, they offer health and wellness programs, discounts on group businesses, English classes, and even registrations for sports services.
Precisely, the latter is one of the “hooks” that Barcelona's Los Tortilez have considered resorting to. “There are few waiters and the competition between restaurateurs to attract them is enormous,” explains Viqui Martínez, in charge of this establishment specializing in potato omelettes on Consell de Cent street. This hotelier considers that the hours offered in her restaurant are attractive. “Our team works morning shifts (from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) or night shifts (from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.), they have two holidays and a salary above what the agreement dictates, but it is still difficult for us to find people.”
He explains that when they find a good employee, they try to reward him financially 3-4 months after joining the team. “But we are thinking about other incentives, such as offering a subscription to a gym or a mutual insurance company.” Some restaurants are considering offering bonuses for positive reviews, although it is not one of the options that Los Tortilez has in mind. “It can turn into little interest in other restaurant tasks. I believe that the solution will be to talk to the workers and see what interests them most, taking into account their needs,” says Martínez.
The bonus for positive reviews does not convince chef and businessman Eugeni de Diego either, with several establishments in Barcelona (Colmado Wilmot and Bar Lombo) and one in Menorca (Pintaroja). “If you reward them just for that, they are likely to become obsessed. Furthermore, I am convinced that the vast majority of reviews – both good and bad – are false.” For Diego, whether an employee is happy depends mainly on four pillars: personal growth, professional growth, salary and recognition.
“The economic part is basic, but you should also be offered a good schedule and a calendar of holidays in January, so that you can reconcile and organize your private life,” says the chef. On the other hand, he believes that training is essential. “Last week we organized a rod throwing course. Other times they have been about preparing coffee or glassware, so that they know the uses of each glass.” Finally, de Diego defends that the company should recognize the employee's work, for example, promoting him on social networks or congratulating him when he does something well. “He has to feel valued,” he insists.
Since September, at the Barcelona restaurant La Gormanda, they have closed on Saturdays and Sundays so that their team can reconcile. Its workers also rest during Easter, three weeks in August and from January 31 to January 10. In addition, each year they spend at the establishment they are rewarded with double pay. “Even so, it is difficult to find staff and we are running out of ideas,” explains Carlota Claver, chef and owner of the project, who due to lack of staff has had to go out on more than one occasion. “And I had a great time. "I don't understand why there aren't more people who like this job, with a vocation."
Claver is aware of the importance that social networks have today, but he thinks the same as his colleagues and prefers to reward his employees for other reasons. “For me it makes more sense to give incentives when the turnover is good than for a positive review, because it shows that there is a desire to sell and recommend the restaurant,” she says.
In Grosso Napoletano, the artisanal Neapolitan pizza chain that has stores in Barcelona, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela, Madrid and Seville, among other Spanish cities, explain that the constant increase in establishments and the much maligned image that the hospitality industry currently has as employer, makes it somewhat more difficult when it comes to finding personnel. However, “our commitment to young talent and their development once they work for us ensures that we continue to grow and have people interested in working with us,” says Bruno González, Managing Director of the company.
In this sense, they promoted in 2022 La Scuola di Grosso: Pizzeria, in which they train new pizzaioli so that they know and learn the art of Neapolitan pizza. “After six weeks of training, we can ensure that everyone can develop both the technical skills of a Grosso Napoletano pizzaioli and others related to emotional intelligence, critical thinking, leadership, resilience or change management,” says González. , who assures that they have a low turnover in the company.
Incentives associated with NPS (a tool that measures customer loyalty), visibility, training and growth within the organization, in addition to good financial compensation and a safe environment, are some of the conditions that Grosso Napoletano also boasts. , where they assure that "several members of the Management Committee began their history at Grosso in the restaurants, for example, our current Director of Operations."
Is it good news that restaurateurs are looking for increasingly creative ways to recruit and retain workers? “It certainly is. But as long as it is not a strategy to cover up indecent hours or bad salaries," defends Jesús Soriano, author of the successful Twitter account @SoyCamarero, with more than 150,000 followers. For Soriano, the problem of lack of personnel will not be resolved easily, since "precariousness has been the norm for many years in this sector." And he adds that “if there are no waiters, it is not because of a lack of desire or because there are no trained people. If not because they have been forced to go to other countries to work or have chosen professions where the conditions are better,” he explains.
But he acknowledges that he has noticed that he has received fewer reports of precarious work in recent months. “I have been sharing the injustices that occur in the sector on social networks for about seven or eight years and I have noticed a decrease in complaints of this type recently. Restaurant businessmen are finally realizing that they must improve conditions and these advantages that they are offering to attract personnel are also an example of this,” he concludes.
