French Tourism Industry Turns to Morocco Amid Severe Labor Shortage

"Permanent contract at 2,400 net euros per month, all hours paid, two days off per week and accommodation." This is the offer posted several times on social media by the management of the Prose, a well-known restaurant in La Grande-Motte (Hérault) before recruiting a pizza maker. "This allowed us to recruit our pizza maker... But we still need two qualified head waiters at the pool and two ’runners’ (waiters, editor’s note), while the season has already started," said the assistant director of the establishment to Midi Libre.

To read: Morocco Launches "Light Tour" to Boost Tourism in Major Global Cities

According to Jean Pinard of the CRTL Occitanie (Regional Committee for Tourism and Leisure), the season will be difficult with the lack of staff. "I know that some hotels and some restaurants will have to open in a degraded mode, due to lack of staff. Instead of 100 covers, it will be 70 and instead of 50 rooms, it will be 35. We will have to reduce the sails," he explains.

To cope with this labor shortage, most professionals are recruiting employees from Morocco, Tunisia or Poland. "We can’t find anyone, I close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I’ve been doing this job for 50 years, I’ve never seen anything like it, no one wants to work anymore... I offer salaries of 2,000 € net and I can’t find anyone," complains Jacques Mestre, owner of a restaurant in La Grande-Motte.

The problem is housing. "We need to find land and transportation to house the seasonal workers, otherwise it will be a disaster. And if we make less revenue, it will also be less revenue for the state," he added.