Understaffed hotels can't afford to raise wages as tourists return

The hospitality industry in numerous countries has complained of difficulty rehiring staff. - KEEM IBARRA/Unsplash

The French hotel industry is on its knees, the head of the hotel group Accor said recently, as it cannot afford to raise wages and is having trouble recruiting enough staff to handle the recovery as tourists return.

Sebastien Bazin, head of the world’s sixth-largest hotel group, said on French radio station RMC that Accor currently lacks at least 2,000 employees in France as the tourism market there begins to recover and foreign visitors trickle back, but still remains deeply below pre-pandemic levels.