Barmen and barmaids, receptionists, housekeepers… The Club Hôtelier Dijon Bourgogne organized, this Monday, March 21, a job dating for the hotel and catering trades. More than 140 positions remain to be filled in establishments that are members of the club, which represents 85% of hotels in Dijon.
“We realized that there were approximately 140, 150 vacancies.“This lack of manpower is what prompted the Club hôtelier de Dijon and its president, Antoine Muñoz, to organize a job dating for the hotel and catering trades. The club represents 85 % of hotels in the city and more than 2,500 rooms.
The event was held this Monday, March 21, at the premises of the Burgundy Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in Dijon (Côte-d’Or). 20 recruiters were present to try to find employees for the positions of receptionists, housekeepers, bartenders or chambermaids.
“The palette is very wide“, confirms Antoine Muñoz. “And it goes from the open-ended contract to the seasonal contract, through extras and even work-study trainees in hotel trades.“
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At the stand of the Hôtel des Ducs, Laurent Clément is preparing to inform the curious. He indicates that he has 4 to 5 vacancies in his establishment. “We are particularly looking for reception“, he clarifies. “We are also committed to hiring only on permanent contracts, with hourly volumes that can be adapted.“
We recruit a lot of people who are not in the business.
Laurent Clément, director of the Hôtel des Ducs
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For the one who is also the secretary of the Hotel Club, interpersonal skills are a more important factor than know-how.
“We recruit a lot of people who are not in the business, such as students for example“, he insists. “For me, it is more important that an employee corresponds to our values, rather than having a hotel training.“
Further on, Laurent Fayard, managing director of the Château de Saulon, runs his establishment’s stand. He also claims to be looking for “profiles“rather than”skills“. “We really want people who are people-oriented, people who want to work here. It’s not really the training that interests us.“
So if training is less important to employers, why do so many jobs go unfilled? “Well, in catering in particular, these are pretty jobs difficult”, explains Laurent Fayard. “It’s not very well paid, and there are still job cuts. These trades have a bad reputation, but luckily that’s changing.“
In a large hotel located a stone’s throw from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, around ten positions are available. The director of the establishment, Alexander Krips, has taken a series of measures to make these jobs more attractive.
Wages have been raised. We try to avoid making cut services.
Alexander Krips, manager of the Mercure hotel
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“And let’s not forget, not in the hotel and catering industry, it’s two to three days off per week. We try to improve working conditions“, he concludes.
As a reminder, the hotel and restaurant sectors have been strongly affected by the covid-19 crisis. Between February 2020 and February 2021, the branch would have lost 237,000 employees.
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