Portofino, no waiters available for the summer. The owner of the Bistro overlooking the bay: “The kids want to be free in the evening”

Mauro Evangelista has been working as an entrepreneur in the food and wine sector for 60 years, and he certainly doesn’t have the temperament of someone who gets anxious, but this year he is worried about the season which is approaching very quickly with staff problems that cannot manages to solve: “Once in the spring we received on average 3 or 4 CVs a day from kids who wanted to come and work in the place” and we’re talking about Portofino, of the former Scafandro, which is now called Portofino Bistrot, an enviable position, on Calata Marconi, a few meters from the little square: “Some were qualified guys, others less so, we read, and we selected, we took the best; Now it’s no longer like that.”

In your opinion, since when did the wind change?

“I can say this with absolute certainty, exactly after Covid, in the meantime let’s start from a practical and real situation. Rightly, the Municipalities throughout Italy, to help the sector which had to face a very difficult crisis, allowed the premises to equip themselves with outdoor spaces, which at the beginning were relatively small and did not require additional staff. Now these outdoor spaces have grown considerably and there is a lack of staff, but this is just one of the many causes”

The others?

“Kids today are not attracted to this job, perhaps it complicates their lives too much, they want to be free in the evenings and on weekends; Once upon a time it wasn’t like this, if I’m not mistaken, from the Confcommercio Fipe data, the Federation of public establishments, last year in the catering sector in Italy there were over 150 thousand professional figures missing, and we are talking above all about waiters and bartenders; I fear that this year will be even worse”

We talk about unemployment, and then we can’t find people? Why do you think supply and demand don’t meet?

“It’s probably a question of mentality, let’s remember that it’s also a demanding job in many respects, but there’s no shortage of satisfaction, you’re always in contact with people. Perhaps today many children remain with their families, are helped by their parents, perhaps prefer to do sporadic jobs, and are content to live from day to day. Maybe they hope to become like Ferragni, rich with ideas, but without ever having to work physically”

Let’s go back to you, since the beginning of the year, how many CVs have you received?

“Zero, we are around on various portals and no one responds, my situation is the same as many other places. I’ve already had about fifteen interviews with guys who came to me by word of mouth; at the beginning everything seems easy, then there are those who don’t have a driving license and here in Portofino it can become a problem due to timetables; there are those who live in Chiavari, and you hear the answer that it’s too far away. In the end we selected 4 guys who seemed available to us: one remained, luckily he lives in the area, but just one isn’t enough for us”

Couldn’t it be an economic issue?

“I don’t think so, the salary here is around 1600 euros net, then there’s the thirteenth salary, the severance pay and there are the tips which count a lot.”

But how do other venues do it?

“They have the same problems as us. Perhaps only the large groups that bring in staff from all over Italy are saved, and are able to teach the trade to young people, offering not only a salary but also food and accommodation, which is impossible for us. We will end up like the commercial shops of the 1960s which then disappeared, absorbed by large groups.”

Haven’t you thought of a solution?

“At this age I would like to change jobs, jump to the other side, and experience the thrill of being an employee for a month, and understand why everything has become so difficult”.