Or those who might be able to prepare Mediterranean bluefin tuna.
“Cooks or room maids are not easy to find these days,” said Yann Gillet, the hotel’s manager, as he took a short break between welcoming stars during the festival. “It was a bit of a challenge.”
Whereas the Martinez has often been inundated with applications in the past, it now faces a post-pandemic staff shortage that has hit the entire industry and could threaten the speed of the continent’s economic recovery.
As Europeans embark on their annual summer vacations, they are finding that some restaurants and hotels are still shuttered or operating at reduced hours, with many citing staff shortages, a lack of customers in some regions, and uncertainty over pandemic restrictions.
Starting in August, anyone who wants to eat at a restaurant in France is expected to need a vaccination certificate, proof of immunity or a negative coronavirus test, which could keep more customers away. But in many of the restaurants that have reopened in domestic tourism destinations, overworked staffers are struggling to keep up with orders.
American hospitality businesses report similar problems, which put pressure on employers to raise wages and offer better benefits. Europe, though, wasn’t expecting this. Expansive wage subsidy and furlough programs were supposed to help workers get through the pandemic and ensure they would still be in place when businesses were able to reopen.