Major Costa del Sol recruitment fair offers 1,500 jobs in the tourism sector

One hundred hospitality companies, hotels, beach, camping, travel agencies and golf course entrepreneurs on the Costa del Sol are seeking some 1,500 workers at the job recruitment fair being held on Tuesday, 28 March (9am until 6pm) at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos in Malaga, in order to reinforce their workforces from Easter week onwards and into summer. Business leaders have explained that for the high season they are going to need 15,000 new professionals in the province as a whole.

Yolanda de Aguilar, from the Junta de Andalucía’s tourism ministry, has said that the jobs fair is part of a battery of actions that it is going to undertake to boost employment in the sector, improve training to alleviate the problems of shortage of labour and to improve the perception of tourism-related jobs.

"The Junta has set itself the objective of giving prestige to the tourism industry," she said. De Aguilar has proposed a long-term training plan after studying the initial report about the lack of workers and the composition of the sector.

“The data reflects the enormous importance of tourism in the region, employing 408,000 workers in Andalucía, 12.5% ​​of the total, with growth greater than the national average, which was 11%. The report acknowledged the difficulties in finding new workers, pointing to the working hours or seasonality of them as a handicap. This is what we want to respond to, by anticipating and adapting", she explained, detailing that these employment days will cover the eight provinces of the, with an investment of 80,000 euros, so that job seekers and job searchers can connect in the same place and 'on-the-spot' hiring is even encouraged.

De Aguilar stressed that the inspiration for this second job fair was the event held last year in the capital of the Costa del Sol organised by the restaurant, hotel and beach employers associations.

“Applicants must come filled with desire and attitude,” said the president of the Mahos association of hospitality entrepreneurs in Malaga, Javier Frutos, who recommended that job seekers bring their curriculum vitae and that they take advantage of the hundred companies that are going to attend the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos, where human resources professionals will be able to connect and meet with candidates.

“Last year the forecasts were exceeded and we received more than 2,000 job seekers who met with the fifty participating companies. This year we have already doubled the number of companies attending and we expect an even greater influx of public”, he said.