Boss says benefit system needs overhaul while hotels call for staff

A hotelier has called for a review of Britain's benefits system on the grounds of the hospitality industry being "crying out for more staff" at a time when so many are receiving benefits.

The precarious nature of the job in the hospitality industry meant that after the closure some employees left their job in the hospitality business because they decided it wasn't for them or that they could earn more elsewhere.

Combine this with additional bureaucracy associated with having to employ foreign labour which may, in the past, have worked in the local hotels, and your result is that many enterprises in the hospitality industry are finding it difficult to recruit new staff to fill the gaps.

Mr Ashworth said one way to ease the staffing crisis might be to introduce a work permit system similar to that in Australia to attract the foreign workers the sector depends on.

But more important, he believes that a working permit system similar to that in Australia should be reviewed in order to encourage people to find work when they can, and thus contribute to society by being taxed, rather than being less well off.

This has led many hoteliers to increase pay, with some beginning jobs in hotels and restaurants around Cornwall offering services worth £11 an hour or more.

He said that while there has been no release during the Nare pandemic, about 20 per cent of its staff decided against returning when the hotel reopened following its first closure in 2020 and last year's winter shuttering.

Mr Ashworth said The Nare has also built a dedicated staff complex for 17 of its staff in Tregony, so they can find accommodation there without taking any housing from the local community wanting to get on the housing ladder.