Yohann Tritz 11:25 a.m., April 23, 2022

300,000 seasonal jobs have not been filled due to lack of applications while the school holidays are in full swing.

Some restaurateurs are forced to reduce their activity in order to be able to keep up.

The Independent National Grouping of Hotels and Restaurants evokes a "shortage".

All areas are on vacation this weekend.

The opportunity for holidaymakers to have a good time, have a drink and eat in the restaurant.

Good news, therefore, for all restaurateurs who have long suffered with the Covid.

Nevertheless, some managers of establishments are struggling to keep pace, the fault of a lack of manpower.

300,000 seasonal jobs are not yet filled in the sector, which penalizes restaurateurs.

A 15% wage increase

The situation is increasingly worrying.

Manuel Mercier Cardinaux is the owner of a café and a brasserie in the Marais poitevin.

He still can't recruit, which forces him to drastically reduce his activity.

: "I have never experienced this in eighteen years of practice, so today I only serve lunch and I also had to close the establishment one day a week"

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To attract candidates, wages in the sector have increased by more than 15% since April 1, but this is not enough: "The candidates who present themselves, they do not want to work in the evening and on Saturdays and Sundays. They ask to have holidays in July or August, which is completely incompatible with the exercise of our profession", continues Manuel Mercier Cardinaux.

"A huge shortage" 

A lack of manpower which pushes the vice president of the southern region of the Independent National Grouping of Hotels and Restaurants, Christiane Thibault, to sound the alarm: "It's unprecedented! It's a real disaster for all of our establishments. Usually, we still manage to manage, to find staff and there, really, there is a huge shortage.

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After two summers marked by the covid, the catering sector could therefore experience a new difficult summer season.