High school students and students looking for seasonal work had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the offer of some of the hotels on the Ohrid-Struga Riviera and gain valuable experience working in one of the professions in tourism. Kasarna Hub today organized the Fair for seasonal employment of high school students and students. The interested high school students say they need their own income, they don’t want to depend on their parents anymore, and the work experience they will gain is more important than their income. Their first choice is the big hotels, because they think that these employers also offer more security.
I would like to receive my money. To not depend on my parents, to choose what I will spend my money on. The most interesting for me right now is “Metropol Hotels” because it is a bigger company and offers more work opportunities. I want to have work experience in the future – says high school student Bojan.
But the students and the elderly and how important the amount of wages that are offered is to them, they don’t even think about working for the minimum wage. The hotel and catering sector is worried that this and the next season will be a real challenge for them, due to the lack of labor and the growing trend of young people going abroad. Today, the representatives from the hotel and catering sector took information from the interested parties who will later be called for additional talks.
We came to this presentation because this season we need 20 waiters, 20 cooks, about 20 maids. We need support staff, because in the season, in addition to hotel operations, we also have a beach. This season we need young guys who will be able to respond to the needs of the hotels, to cover the beach as well. Because every guest who comes wants to be satisfied – says Jovanche Nikolov from “Metropol Lake Resort”.
Aware that they cannot offer a salary equal to that which is offered in Croatia, for example, they hope that seasonal employment could soften the blow that will undoubtedly cause the lack of labor in this sector this season. This situation in tourism is not accidental. It is the result of carelessness accumulated over the past years, says Nikola Bozhinoski, manager of Hotel “Village”.
This is a consequence of what happened in the past years. Very low incomes, very low wages, people were unhappy, they worked overtime hours that were not paid by the hotels. That is the biggest problem that is happening to us. In reality, in our country, all employees’ wages are higher than the minimum wage, which is now 20,175 denars. The lowest position would be a hundred euros higher than this. And that is the minimum wage without overtime work, work on holidays, we look to meet people in every way – adds Bozhinoski.
