Searching for a job will take time in the summer: emigrants trapped in Lithuania search four times more than locals.

Students, schoolchildren, immigrants and workers in big cities look for work

According to data from Creditreform Lietuva, in February-April of this year, the staff of the Palanga companies was reduced by 1.2 percent. During the same period last year, the number of employees increased 4.4 percent. According to data from mid-May, Lithuanian tourism companies are hiring again. However, the staff is growing only in the spas.

Ingrida Valaitienė, president of the Palanga Hotel and Restaurant Association (VRA), points out that in May, the hotels only started their activities. At that time, restaurants and cafes opened their doors earlier. According to her, everyone is gradually recovering employees from downtime, and by June, they are already looking for new employees to replace the equipment.

“Due to the current quarantine situation and its consequences on the labor market, there is no shortage of job seekers. We received inquiries from schoolchildren, students and migrants who returned before the quarantine was announced, as well as from employees of large cities , Vilnius, Kaunas, where companies may not have started operations after quarantine or employees have been laid off.

Due to postponed exams, they would like to start working later than usual, some are determined to start working at the usual time, so they will try to cope with both work and exams, “says I. Valaitienė.

The interviewee cautiously predicts that the demand for workers in July and August should be the same, and perhaps higher, than last year. However, he notes that due to canceled events, restrictions in foreign markets (closed borders, flight routes), the demand for workers in June may continue to be slightly lower than last year.

Very often, hotels and restaurants in Palanga are looking for kitchen assistants, chefs, waiters, and housewives. Currently, the greatest demand is for chefs.

This year it will be more difficult to find a job: 5 times fewer offers

Rita Karavaitienė, Marketing Manager for the specialists and job search portal CV-Online, points out that finding a seasonal job this year will be more difficult due to a lower job offer.

She notes that seasonal work is done primarily by senior students. This year, the portal also receives many inquiries from schoolchildren and students about seasonal work, but the choice of jobs is not that wide.

“The number of job offers in all areas is still catching up last year, and growth in the number of job offers in the tourism sector will be quite slow. However, we are already seeing positive signs of recovery: resorts are starting to look for kitchen staff, hotels announce renewed activities, etc. ”, R. Karavaitienė shares his ideas.

“The number of seasonal job openings in the tourism, hospitality and catering sector this year is significantly less than in May last year. In April and May last year, we announced nearly 100 job openings for employees in the field of tourism, hotels and catering, mainly to work in Lithuanian resorts. This year, there are 20 ads for employees in this field at the end of May. There are probably the fewest job offers in this field compared to other fields of activity ” , says the interviewee.

Not only that, the search for temporary workers has changed considerably this year, their search generally started as early as April and most people were looking for workers to work in Lithuania or abroad. This year, although at the end of May, the search for seasonal workers is only just beginning and, of course, seasonal work is only offered in Lithuania.

“As tourism and leisure will be primarily in the country this year, there will be a need for employees, but their search will accelerate only in mid-June, but the number of job offers may not reach last year’s level. “predicts R. Karavaitienė.

The hotel is looking for 40 employees for the summer.

Kristupas Šliogeris, the manager of the Palangos žuvėdra hotel, also notes that this year the search for seasonal employees has changed. If recruitment previously started from the beginning of April, now everything has moved to the end of May and June.

“Previously, we hired seasonal workers for three months, tested them, trained them so that we could start in June. This year, everything will happen immediately: we accept and work, “says K. Šliogeris.

Palanga Seagull plans to hire a similar number of employees as last year, about 30-40 people. There are few permanent employees here, about 20, and in summer the staff almost triples, to almost 60 people. The interlocutor assures that all the hotel staff are already working at full capacity and will begin accepting seasonal staff starting this Friday.

“Most permanent employees took paid vacations during quarantine, some worked due to agricultural work, some employees worked full time, and only two people were down.

We are currently returning to work, the hotel is working at full capacity and preparing for the season. We will accept some of the staff this Friday, some of it, next week, some even later, “says the hotel manager.

The hotel is looking for a lot of jobs: maids, farm workers, managers, waiters, chefs, helpers, and dishwashers in the restaurant.

The restaurant is not open to everyone.

Vesta Žemaitė, the manager of Restoranas 4, located in Palanga and Vilnius, says that the Palanga restaurant generally has around 20 employees during the low season. With the arrival of summer, the company doubles its staff, and in July the number of employees sometimes triples.

“Usually we are looking for seasonal workers from the beginning of April and in the beginning of May we already have a list of how many people join us and only in July did we join the team.” This year, most start working from the beginning of June. Currently, we have a permanent team, ”says V. Žemaitė.

According to the restaurant manager, the database of former employees saves on searching for employees, as some of them return every year. The interviewee notes that adult graduates, students and migrants who have returned to Lithuania and are currently trapped are looking for work.

“This summer is different in that there is no shortage of employees, perhaps only some professions are always a little less in Lithuania, because the employees leave. This year, there are those who are trapped and looking for work and plan to leave immediately in the fall. During the job interview reports on plans to leave in the fall and he will emigrate as soon as possible, “says the head of restaurant 4.

The candidates’ interest has grown a lot this year, but the problem is that the restaurant cannot accept everyone. “It doesn’t matter how unfortunate it is that people don’t find a job or find a worse job, but they can’t accept everyone.” This year, there are definitely more calls than last year, especially for waiters, “he says.

The Palanga restaurant is looking for waiters, washing machines, cleaners, breakfast waiters, waiters. According to V. Žemaitė, it is extremely difficult to find kitchen staff: “This is a critical position, which is difficult to find to come to work during the season, because accommodation must be sought and provided.”

The head of the restaurant says that only in early May, when the doors opened in Palanga, the number of people in the hotel and the restaurant began to grow. Consequently, employees returned from downtime one after another weekly.

“Since the beginning of the quarantine, we have not produced food to go, because we have never been in this market, it is difficult to get on a moving train.” So we decided to close the door because there were higher costs than income. All employees from March 18. entered downtime, “says the interlocutor.

The sanitariums did not recover all the employees, they work 15 percent. capacity

However, not all companies in the Palanga service sector have recovered all their employees from downtime. The president of Palanga VRA hinted that the situation is more complicated in sanatoriums and rehabilitation centers, where due to service restrictions, not everyone needs the same flow of personnel.

Algirdas Jonaitis, head of the Palangos Linas Rehabilitation Center, told Delfi that the wellness complex is currently open at 15%. capacity, as a large proportion of staff are still in downtime. According to him, of 130 permanent employees, about 40 have returned to work.

According to him, it all depends on the clients: as the number of people increases, the sanitarium invites one more employee of the downtime.

“If we have a job as always every summer, everyone will have a job, no one will be left without a job.” But it all depends on the clients ”, emphasizes A. Jonaitis.

The head of Palangos Lino assures that at the moment he does not notice a big difference in the issue of employees, before quarantine and currently they need the same amount.

“The situation has not changed much, since there was a need for qualified general practice nurses and rehabilitation doctors, so is the need,” the interlocutor mentions the lack of qualified personnel.

The Rehabilitation Center hires only a few additional employees in the summer: garden workers, housewives, and a waiter: “We have permanent students, students, who ask us right away at the beginning of the summer whether or not we are going to retire. As we have verified them, we accept them. There will be work for them all this summer. I just don’t know about the waiters because it will depend on customer flows. We will take the employees to the patio because the grass grows evenly. ”

Wages in Palanga decreased

The fog of uncertainty, in which the new summer season is still drowning, has also negatively affected the wages paid by tourism companies, analysts at CR.lt note. According to Sodra’s data, in the first three months of 2019, the average salary in Palanga companies with more than 3 employees grew 1.6 percent, and this year the result for three months was negative.

“If wages kept increasing in January-February, March has reduced them. If we compare the average amounts paid by tourism companies in January-March, we will see that wages decreased more in Palanga (9.8%), where the average wage reached 678 Eur ”, read in the CR.lt report.

I. Valaitienė, President of Palanga VRA, points out that until now companies only start working after quarantine, so with a large number of employees, wages should remain at the same level as before, except for those employees whose wages Variable directly depends on guest and sales traffic.

“If the established indicators are not achieved, the variable part for these employees may be less than planned. However, they do not want to set a bad scenario, they want to remain optimistic and think about how to invite more guests to the resort, how to improve the services, create added value for the customer and then we can talk about bigger extras, “says I. Valaitienė.

It also hints that there is always a shortage of skilled workers, so employers are often willing to pay more to retain highly skilled workers. “However, this year, until there is fear of a second wave of the virus, the salary increase may be left for the future, i. And. Next year,” said a hotel and restaurant spokeswoman.

The salary expectations of the emigrants do not reach reality: they want four times more

Among other things, I. Valaitė states that the salary expectations of the emigrants who stay here are extremely high: “It seems that it will be difficult for them to adapt to the salary paid in Lithuania, which may lead to a job search.”

The same trend is noted by the manager of “Restaurant 4”. According to her, the expectations of her candidates are very different: “A person who has returned from London, has been quarantined in Lithuania and cannot leave, expects a salary in London, another, who may have worked in the Lithuanian market and having lost his job, he needs a Lithuanian hourly wage. ” Expectations range from € 3.5 “on hand” to € 14 for someone returning from London. “

V. Žemaitė predicts that beach wages should decrease in the summer, but says the restaurant plans to maintain the same pay structure.

“People come to earn money in the summer, it is a fact that they want to get a little more. Those who work all year round also get more. Therefore, we try not to hurt our team members,” he says.
The manager of the Hotel Palangos Žuvėdra is considering that wages should not decrease during the high season.

“People will earn less in May-June and maybe in the fall, but the salary during the high season, July and August, I don’t think it will change, it will be almost the same as last year,” Schlioger hopes.

At the time, R. Karavaitienė, Marketing Manager at Cv-Online, points out that the salaries currently offered remained at a level similar to last year. Depending on the position, hours of work, etc., the average salary of a seasonal employee is approximately 600 Eur “on hand”.

Delfi wrote last year that expectations of seasonal workers range from 600 to 1,000 euros. R. Karavaitienė notes that job applicants should not be as demanding this year and that every job offer could be considered.