For the first time, more people are working in the service industry now since before the pandemic. According to a new analysis by the HR company Acerta, employment in the so-called “Horeca sector” (hotel, restaurant, cafe) is 9% higher than in 2019.
The growth in the employment rate of the hospitality sector is even greater if compared to 2021 — 40.4%. A particular increase is also visible in the number of permanent employees, with 42.4% of employees holding a permanent position, though flexible workers, students and flexi-job workers, still represent the biggest portion of the sector.
This analysis of 2,500 Belgian establishments follows an announcement by the Horeca Wallonia Federation yesterday that customers should expect a change in the operations of many Horeca establishments as they continue to be short-staffed. The labour shortage persists as the growth in the occupancy rate of the industry should have been higher but was stumped by the pandemic, according to Acerta.
Credit: Marta Mieze / The Brussels Times
"We have to take into account that the labour shortage remains acute in the sector, which means that catering operators cannot easily recruit new staff these days," Leen Smeets, Acerta catering expert said in a press release.
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"In addition, some permanent employees have started working in another sector in the past two years, rather than sitting at home in temporary unemployment."
Smeets added that offering more permanent contracts is the solution to battling understaffed establishments.
