Spanish restaurants and hotels are already exploring the option of not availing themselves of the umbrella of the Temporary Employment Regulation Files (ERTE) to be able to undertake adjustments in their workforce as soon as possible, according to the Hospitality of Spain.
This has been recognized by the president of the employer, José Luis Yzuel, in an interview with Servimedia, in which he has not provided any data on the approximate number of premises that are considering this option, but in which he has assured that “many companies “They have informed him that they will not take advantage of the ERTE in order to adjust their workforce in the coming months.
It should be remembered that companies that opt for the temporary suspension of employment will not be able to fire until six months have elapsed since the resumption of activity. Currently, more than 250,000 Spanish workers in the sector are in an ERTE, according to Hospitality of Spain.
“Some companies have already decided not to join in the last extension because they have many limitations to adjust the workforce. And firing will be fired yes or yes. It is impossible to maintain the workforce with the turnover volume at 50%. Companies can continue to use the ERTEs, but the time will come when they will have to make a more profound reform, “said Yzuel, who asked the Executive for a shock plan with direct aid such as those approved in Germany, France and Italy.
“We are in a dramatic situation. Every day that passes is more serious. The Government is aware that we need a shock plan, that we need direct aid as they have done in Europe,” said the president of the hotel management association.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Friday that the Executive will present an aid plan for the sector in the coming weeks, but did not detail any of the measures that it will include. For his part, Yzuel demanded economic policies such as the one that the Navarre Government approved this week, which will inject a maximum of 25,000 euros to the establishments most affected by the economic crisis derived from the coronavirus pandemic.
“I do not know the fine print, but that is indeed aid, not like in the rest of the country, except for some exceptions,” said the president of the employer’s association. On the other hand, Yzuel assured that the aid processed by the governments of the Basque Country, the Region of Murcia and Catalonia, which will grant loans and aid of between 800 and 4,000 euros, “can be a dropper or an injection for the little ones, but not for a company that takes thousands and thousands of euros of losses “.
Along these lines, Yzuel assured that the government’s proposals “are never negative insofar as they imply an improvement in the situation,” but he described them as “absolutely insufficient.” “It is like receiving a two-trajectory goring and coming with two plasters. We need an urgent operation, drippers and operating rooms to stop the bleeding. This is much more serious than what they offer us as a solution. I have the feeling that they do not believe it “, he concluded.
Hospitality in Spain foresees that the sector will face the end of 2020 with a cut in annual sales of more than 50,000 million euros or equivalent to losing half of the turnover due to the restrictions applied to avoid contagion of Covid-19.
“FREE CLOSURE”
Regarding the restrictions, Yzuel assured that, in a hypothetical scenario in which Madrid bends the curve of cases diagnosed with Covid-19, a “deep reflection” should be made in which those responsible must “assume the consequences” of their actions .
The President of Hospitality of Spain understands that the limitations of the Community of Madrid, despite being more lax, have been more beneficial for the economy and health than those decreed by other autonomous communities. Therefore, Yzuel denounces that “the sector has been ruined” from absolute ignorance and totally gratuitously.
