The unemployment rate has fallen to the point where companies are having difficulty in finding staff for the burgeoning Algarve tourism industry.With the season stretching either side of the peak summer period, many companies are recruiting staff from other countries, notably from Spain where unemployment remains high.
Job vacancies are hard to fill in the tourism sector but also in agriculture and retail - all low wage, low skill sectors where potential employees soon find that accommodation is one of the main barriers for staff looking at relocating to the Algarve.
The need for agricultural workers, especially in the booming, 'red fruits' market, has become acute but employers point to the drift of hundreds of thousands of Portuguese workers to other countries during the recession - and the lack of returnees who may be uninspired by the low wages of offer back in their homeland.
Tivoli Hotels & Resorts are mounting a road-show around Portugal from the 26th of February as they need 300 new workers for their hotels through the summer season and beyond.
Tivoli, owned by Minor Hotels, will be on the road for six days in a special coach, for what the management calls, a "pioneering recruitment action."
The destinations are, Évora (26 February), Castelo Branco (27 February), Coimbra (28 February), Leiria (1 March), Setúbal (2 March) and Vilamoura (3 March) where staff will be holding interviews.
Jorge Beldade, regional operations director of Minor Hotels for the Algarve, explains that the initiative, the ‘Tivoli Talent Tour,’ aims to fill jobs in catering, bar work, housekeeping and reception.
