“We are open to hiring people with no experience in the tourism industry, provided they have a minimum level of English proficiency, we will provide the rest of the training ourselves.” RS. Michalica Petala of the Hatzilazarou hotel group in Rhodes is one of the 40 business representatives who took part in the Career Days “Welcome 2023”. An event that takes place on his initiative Coordination Center of the Municipality of Athens for Immigrants and Refugees (ACCMR)with his support International Organization for Migration (IOM) And her UNHCRmainly aimed at workers with an immigrant and refugee profile.

The momentum seems ideal for deals, as most businesses in the tourism and food service industries are willing to make compromises. “We have gaps in advanced specialties such as service, housekeeping and cuisine,” Ms Petala notes. “Our gaps are as high as 15%,” says Ms. Anna Lagudaki, Human Resources Manager at Santikos Hotels. “A month ago there were several vacancies,” she adds, “last year we had a lot of foreigners working for us, two of them stayed in the winter in our divisions, which remained open.” RS. Mirto Adamantiadis, from the 24-hour bar-restaurant Yam in Antiparos, listens to what interested parties are asking for. “We have changed the wage rate and are trying to accommodate some reasonable requests,” he says. For hours, delegates spoke to young men and women from Cameroon, Nigeria, Congo, Morocco, Afghanistan and Egypt.

“My old boss in Santorini is waiting for me, but I’m trying to find a job with a better schedule.” OUR 36 year old Rahimi from Afghanistan, who participated in one-on-one career counseling sessions at the municipal Migrant Integration Center, attended the event yesterday in the hope that he will be able to work in better conditions this year. “The island was a dream, but we said that I would work eight hours, and I worked almost twelve, and in fact in a different position,” he describes in fluent Greek, “I am the only one who worked the whole season, the rest of my colleagues resigned.” OUR Israel from Nigeria, on the other hand, seems willing to compromise. “When someone is hungry, they won’t ask you for an elaborate menu,” he emphasizes, although he prefers to find a job as a gardener, since that is now his specialty in Greece. For him, a beneficiary of IRC (International Rescue Committee) programs, it is vital to change the perception of refugees in Greece. “If a Greek doesn’t intervene, it’s hard to find a home or a job these days,” says Yisrael, a Catholic who volunteers for Caritas, bitterly.

The biggest “headache” is the management of working parents, especially women with small children and even more single-parent families. If it is already difficult to adapt in a new country, then “internal migration” for 3-4 months to another place and work on a rotational basis looks like a feat for foreign mothers. “I work as a cleaning lady in a private school in the northern suburbs and a public institution,” Miriam says “K”. from Morocco: “I’m not satisfied and I’m looking for another job.” She has three children herself, ranging from ten to sixteen years old. “I have no opportunity to work outside of Athens.”

An alternative may be their employment as a nanny. “We don’t have many job requests from women with a refugee profile,” Antigoni Lembesi answers “K”. from the Paramana babysitting platform, “have the same city travel and time restrictions.” However, “there is a lot of demand from Greek families who very often state that they don’t care about knowing Greek, they are open to having their children learn other languages ​​under the guidance of a nanny,” he elaborates.

“For those who have been here for many years and their asylum application is often denied, there is a very strong anxiety about the future,” Doukas Protogyros comments on “K” psychologist at IRC. “They find that the years go by and they are meteors, many promised to return the money, and they don’t do it.” Within the framework of the organization, group psychotherapy sessions are held, in which many men participate, living alone, without support.