Why are most hotel workers not Irish ?

gigino

My brother stayed in a few large hotels in Ireland recently and said even the receptionist, leisure centre staff, waiting staff etc were foreign. Excellent staff, but mostly eastern European. I know the HR person in another large Irish hotel ( well known brand name ) and she said they do not have any Irish people on housekeeping duties / making up rooms. She said they never found any Irish people who could stick the pace.

We Irish seem to work hard when we go abroad. The minimum wage is higher here than in most countries around the world. We have a lot of unemployment here ( half a million ? ) and a lot of emigration. Is it not puzzling we cannot compete here / be as good as foreign workers ?

Sky King

A lot of them came here during the boom when working in hotels was beneath Irish people and hung on to their jobs (deservedly) when we had to fk off.

I personally think their culture makes their personalities a bit too 'serious' and impersonal for work in our hospitality industry, and I also think that if people come to Ireland to experience our culture then the hotels should have Irish working in them.

But that's the way the dice fell innit?

freeze4real

In fairness the Easter Europeans look way better than the Irish women and one can also say that they're very hard working.

Saila

how many of them were hired in the last few years though, that answers it.

MugMugs

Cos they're all generally hot! Hot staff is a good perk!

Yakult

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThDnFOj0Hk

Ostrom

We did compete, by producing an educated workforce capable of capitalising on our mid-90's growth. The result was a serious shortfall in service sector labour which in some cases (natural uptake through net immigration aside) required active recruitment.

Biggins

Sky King wrote: »

A lot of them came here during the boom when working in hotels was beneath Irish people...

SOME Irish people - not all, or not even a majority! At least if your going to do some tainting, be more accurate and not wrongly impose that it was all!

Of couse the above is just a single silly, narrow mined view. Try looking at a wider picture next time!

Sky King wrote: »

..I personally think their culture is a bit too 'serious' for work in our hospitality industry, and I also think that if people come to Ireland to experience our culture then the hotels should have Irish working in them.

But that's the way the dice fell innit?

What?

Yahew

Yakult wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThDnFOj0Hk

God, do people rely on comic TV to tell them what to think all the bloody time? Every single time somebody mentions this topic, somebody posts that as if it was the most original thing ever. It isn't.

homerjay2005

cos irish people in general wont get out of bed for less than 15euro an hour and want a job that is easy as possible.

foreigners who come here, dont have the luxury of a grand a month + on social welfare to fall back on either if they leave their jobs, so they stay there and work as hard as they can.

28064212

Yahew wrote: »

Every single time somebody mentions this topic, somebody posts that as if it was the most original thing ever. It isn't.

Maybe it's to point out that this topic has been done to death a multitude of times, and the same posts will continually come up every time

Yahew

There was a letter in the IT two days ago about this. The number of people employed in the retail sector who were immigrants rose by 17,000 in the last 2 years, while Irish employment declined in that sector ( and everywhere else).

In declining job markets, jobs are in fact being "turked". The whole "morality" about this is spurious nonsense, as are claims of xenophobia. In fact claims of xenophobia are the way middle class poseurs attack the working class, whilst maintaining their control over the non-tradable sector.

Ever wonder why we don't have Hungarian dentists - widely regarded to be the best in Europe - over here? Why do people have to go to Hungary. Answer: the dentist cartel controls the borders, unlike the retail sector workers.

Yahew

28064212 wrote: »

Maybe it's to point out that this topic has been done to death a multitude of times, and the same posts will continually come up every time

Maybe its to make no point at all. At the moment jobs are being taken in the retail sector, and Irish working class people cant get those jobs. This is is a recession. Its a genuine complaint, and comic book nonsense is not thinking about it.

( I think the rise in libertarian thinking it due to South Park - showing how controlling mass media can be).

John Doe1

Because Hotel owner hate Irish people. Burn them!!!:mad:

amacachi

efla wrote: »

We did compete, by producing an educated workforce capable of capitalising on our mid-90's growth. The result was a serious shortfall in service sector labour which in some cases (natural uptake through net immigration aside) required active recruitment.

Shortfall was caused by inflating construction more than anything else IMO.

BraziliaNZ

Jesus who cares. Employers pick the people most suitable for a job. I've taken a couple of jobs abroad throughout the years, the UK, Oz etc are full of hundreds of thousands of Irish, I don't think we have a right to complain about a few fellow EU citizens working in our country. Sigh.

M cebee

so they're all on at least minimum wage?

Yahew

And that excuse does not fly now. Employers hire foreigners because

1) they can pay less,
2) the immigrants are less aware of their rights.

The idea that the 20% of people now on the dole don't have people who don't want to work ( generally posed as the lazy Irish - which is the only racist terminology used in these debates). That may have been true in the boom. Now, there are clearly people who want to work, because they did two years ago. Or they emigrate now to find work. Seems a crazy situation to me.

strandroad

Yahew wrote: »

Ever wonder why we don't have Hungarian dentists - widely regarded to be the best in Europe - over here? Why do people have to go to Hungary. Answer: the dentist cartel controls the borders, unlike the retail sector workers.

Not true, there are Hungarian, Polish etc dentists and GPs practicing in Ireland. GPs or dentists make decent money in their home countries though so they are not as likely to come over as hotel/catering staff, that's all.

Ostrom

amacachi wrote: »

Shortfall was caused by inflating construction more than anything else IMO.

Not necessarily - construction represented the lowest proportion of recorded activity for all issued PPSN's between 2002-2009, according to this joint CSO/Revenue report [http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/labourmarket/current/ppsn.pdf]

Also new PPS allocations halved between 2004-2009

BraziliaNZ

Yahew wrote: »

And that excuse does not fly now. Employers hire foreigners because

1) they can pay less,
2) the immigrants are less aware of their rights.

The idea that the 20% of people now on the dole don't have people who don't want to work ( generally posed as the lazy Irish - which is the only racist terminology used in these debates). That may have been true in the boom. Now, there are clearly people who want to work, because they did two years ago. Or they emigrate now to find work. Seems a crazy situation to me.

I really dont think Irish people emigrate to work in hotels. Educated people are more likely to leave these days. I would rather be on the 188 euro a week dole than work in hotels. I know plenty of people at home gladly living on the dole. If Irish people really wanted those jobs they could get them over foreigners, IMO.

amacachi

efla wrote: »

Not necessarily - construction represented the lowest proportion of recorded activity for all issued PPSN's between 2002-2009, according to this joint CSO/Revenue report url]http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/labourmarket/current/ppsn.pdf[/url

Also new PPS allocations halved between 2004-2009

Yeah because it was the Irish who went into construction. Why push a hoover for a tenner an hour when you could lug **** around a site for double that.

Ostrom

Yahew wrote: »

And that excuse does not fly now. Employers hire foreigners because

1) they can pay less,
2) the immigrants are less aware of their rights.

The idea that the 20% of people now on the dole don't have people who don't want to work ( generally posed as the lazy Irish - which is the only racist terminology used in these debates). That may have been true in the boom. Now, there are clearly people who want to work, because they did two years ago. Or they emigrate now to find work. Seems a crazy situation to me.

And the solution is what....?

Legislate for exploitation throughout times of growth? Insert a clause in their work permits to leave when unemployment increases? Remove their children and extended families from school? Remove their savings?

Depressed wages are not set consciously by employers targeting foreign staff for the sake of savings - and Irish workers were equally complicit in buying into limited security in times of high employment and labour mobility.

Yahew

mhge wrote: »

Not true, there are Hungarian, Polish etc dentists and GPs practicing in Ireland. GPs or dentists make decent money in their home countries though so they are not as likely to come over as hotel/catering staff, that's all.

They would have to requalify for dentistry. Medicine is different, for whatever reason.

You have to do this.

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I really dont think Irish people emigrate to work in hotels. Educated people are more likely to leave these days. I would rather be on the 188 euro a week dole than work in hotels. I know plenty of people at home gladly living on the dole. If Irish people really wanted those jobs they could get them over foreigners, IMO.

I am sure Irish people are working in bars in London, and hotels too.

Yahew

Depressed wages are not set consciously by employers targeting foreign staff for the sake of savings - and Irish workers were equally complicit in buying into limited security in times of high employment and labour mobility.

Actually that is exactly what employers are doing. the threat of redundancy is greater if you lose your job and have to go back to Poland as you are not here long enough for the dole.

efla wrote: »

And the solution is what....?

Legislate for exploitation throughout times of growth? Insert a clause in their work permits to leave when unemployment increases? Remove their children and extended families from school? Remove their savings?

Reducing immigration, in general, during a recession is not a bad idea in fact.

Most people think these things are "impossible". Germany largely has controlled it's borders with Poland by opting out of the accession State's workers right to work for 7 years. Even now Polish people - certain of a job here, but not there ( where the unions are stronger, and firing or replacing people is impossible) - come here and not to germany.

Go to ten miles from a Polish border in East Germany and the staff are German. Which is considered normal in Germany.

Biggins

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I really dont think Irish people emigrate to work in hotels. Educated people are more likely to leave these days.

...Whereas I have found MANY Irish people working in hotels at home and abroad (from Nice, France to the USA and Australia) - but its all too easy just to paint all Irish with the same "lazy" or "its beneath them" brush!
Its a lazy, short-sighted view in my opinion.

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I would rather be on the 188 euro a week dole than work in hotels.

...OK!!!
What! Is the work beneath you?

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

...If Irish people really wanted those jobs they could get them over foreigners, IMO.

Thats FAR too a simplistic view.

* You have fresh people coming here and renting property right away - and fair play to them, joining the work force right away if they can.
(They after while might consider taking on a mortgage but then they too will be looking for hight paid jobs also, to help with such payments!)
* Then you also have your original born and raised here residents who have grown up here and (JUST for example) taken on mortgages, etc.
They sometime cannot AFFORD to take on lower paid jobs - as much as they would like to!

Its too stupidly easy to say that to all Irish, some jobs are beneath them.
A wrong tainting and misunderstanding of a wider problematic picture is not being seen.

mikemac1

Because while employment abuses in construction like pension funds, health and safety and Gama were highlighted and adressed, the hotel sector was ignored by our so called leaders.

Because if you work in a hotel you might finish after the wedding and cleaning the ballroom at four am and you're told to be back for breakfast shift or don't bother coming back at all

European Working Time Directive and minimum rest periods? Hah, they don't exist.

Because wage rates were driven to the bottom. I spent five years in various positions and got to night porter earning the princely sum of twelve euro per hour. I was experienced and I think I was worth it. Management decided two hundred residents was too much for one person, I trained a lovely guy from Poland, my hours were suddenly slashed off the roster and he got my job on minimum wage.

Hotels are cute, they don't fire staff, they just cut your hours and give them to the new hire and force you to leave. You quit so you do not have a case.

But managers are also abused too, trainee hotel manager is awful job on low pay and the hours you work should be illegal.
And then managers do what they've learned and in turn bully the staff

You would be fired in an office for the way head chefs treat their staff but then some admire the Gordon Ramsey types. All that shouting is wasted energy and achieves nothing. You can be passionate and a leader without it

And finally because posters on this site seem to hate this country and its people.
ALL Irish people think they are too good for these jobs? :rolleyes: Well who was doing them before mass immigration.
And ALL Eastern Europeans are better workers? Not at all, some are great, some are pissheads, no nationality is better or worse for that.

BraziliaNZ

Biggins wrote: »

What! Is the work beneath you?

Yes it is, at this stage in my life.

Biggins

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Yes it is, at this stage in my life.

What stage?

I know of elderly folk working in local hotels.
I know of disabled working in local hotels, etc.
Hell, I know of far high qualified people working in hotels just so they could be still working!

Why is hotel work beneath you? Genuine question.

BraziliaNZ

Biggins wrote: »

What stage?

I know of elderly folk working in local hotels.
I know of disabled working in local hotels, etc.
Hell, I know of far high qualified people working in hotels just so they could be still working!

Why is hotel work beneath you? Genuine question.

Because I worked hard to be in a situation where I'm never stuck for work in my profession. I did my time in hotels and bars, loved it, but the money is not good enough for how I like to roll these days. And it's a pain in the ass. I don't do much these days and get a good salary. What's wrong with that?

Biggins

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Because I worked hard to be in a situation where I'm never stuck for work in my profession. I did my time in hotels and bars, loved it, but the money is not good enough for how I like to roll these days. What's wrong with that?

Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Its not that the work is beneath you then - its because you cannot afford to live the lifestyle you currently have dues to lower pay rates.

...Which sort of gives an example of what I mentioned earlier, ie: others sometimes cannot AFFORD to take on lower paid jobs - as much as they would like to!

Its NOT just because some Irish think a hotel job is beneath them!
Thats a stupid kop-out excuse used by other ignorant people.

BraziliaNZ

Biggins wrote: »

Its NOT just because some Irish think a hotel job is beneath them!
Thats a stupid kop-out excuse used by other ignorant people.

I think there's an element of truth in that though. As other people have said here, they treat their staff horribly and the hours are a nightmare. I think hard up immigrants are more likely to do this and send a few quid home rather than Irish people who could be living at home or getting enough benefits to get by on.

mikemac1

McDonalds are a good employer and treat you well

I'd rather work for McDonalds then ever work for an Irish hotel again

Didn't they say this about London in the fifties? The worst cowboy landlords and foremen and employers who screwed over Irish workers were usually Irish themselves. A bit offtopic
RTÉ History show podcast did a series on this, it's a good podcast

Biggins

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I think there's an element of truth in that though. As other people have said here, they treat their staff horribly and the hours are a nightmare. I think hard up immigrants are more likely to do this and send a few quid home rather than Irish people who could be living at home or getting enough benefits to get by on.

* There is truth that to SOME Irish people such work is beneath them.

* There is truth that Irish staff AND foreign workers (I have personally seen) are treated terrible.

* There is truth that many Irish people would be willing to work in a hotel - if they too could also afford to take employers scraping minimum legal wage payouts!

* There is truth that immigrants are oft times better able to take such low paid working positions - either by being stuck between 'a rock and a hard place' or having lower 'living costs' (short version).

What I don't like to personally see is that others allude (intentionally or not) that all or a lot of Irish people think hotel work is beneath them.
Its a fallacy - one often spouted forth by the uninformed or intentionally blind, deaf and stupid!

Dilynnio

Go to the Ritz Carlton.......that will answer your question.......enough said!

guitarzero

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Because I worked hard to be in a situation where I'm never stuck for work in my profession. I did my time in hotels and bars, loved it, but the money is not good enough for how I like to roll these days. And it's a pain in the ass. I don't do much these days and get a good salary. What's wrong with that?

The economy has changed bro, get with the times. Thousands of folks have been carrying around their degrees and diplomas for years and recognize that its a false promise to think that because you have a qualification you are somewhat above working in positions that are less qualified/well paid. You should take full responsibility for the path you've taken. It's just a false assumption and a false sense of entitlement. You say you did your time but thats not time. Thats just work. If we took this attitude 4000 years ago I dont think we'd have pulled it off. I'm not saying to drop your CV into McDonalds but there are a fair few of lower wage jobs going that preserve your dignity and that could alleviate taxing our people.

The whole thing of foreign folks populating the hotel/cafe/restaurant/retail area is, to me, still a bit contentious. I've worked in many of these places and Eastern European women arent that generically more beautiful than our own. I would question just how much of a difference male and female consumers could give a crap about whether Agnieska is behind the tills when you queuing for your boxers.
In cafe's and restaurants, again, I'd say there were maybe a couple of work engines who were none Irish but also Irish workers who were just as hard working. Often it was the younger ones or those who were in college all week, studying etc that would come in f*cked and sketching off.
Btw, it seems theres an endorsing of prejudice based on nationality. If this were a racial one against black folk I'm sure you wouldnt hear the end of it.

I lived with Polish folks and they said this type of bias would never happen in their own country, his tone was implying we are nitwits for doing such. He claimed they also strive for high positions in these departments in order to have a level of influence as to who gets hired.

woodoo

Reducing the dole over time would see more Irish people willing to work in hotels.

For the life of me i cant understand why the government allows someone on the dole 5, 10, 15 years collect the same dole money as someone unemployed less than a year.

People can adapt their lives to live of €188 per week + rent allowance etc. They wouldn't find it as easy if that figure dropped to €168 after a year and then €148 and €128 etc. They would find themselves thinking maybe i'd be better off working in that hotel job.

thee glitz

I stayed at a hotel last week and I think only one of the staff I met
wasn't Irish. I guess it's because they decide to afford Irish staff.

Johnny Foreigner

gigino wrote: »

My brother stayed in a few large hotels in Ireland recently and said even the receptionist, leisure centre staff, waiting staff etc were foreign. Excellent staff, but mostly eastern European. I know the HR person in another large Irish hotel ( well known brand name ) and she said they do not have any Irish people on housekeeping duties / making up rooms. She said they never found any Irish people who could stick the pace.

We Irish seem to work hard when we go abroad. The minimum wage is higher here than in most countries around the world. We have a lot of unemployment here ( half a million ? ) and a lot of emigration. Is it not puzzling we cannot compete here / be as good as foreign workers ?

I am going to enlighten you all with the truth.
I worked for 10 years in Hotel Management so I feel I am in a position to comment on the above.
During the Celtic Tiger boom years 1994-2007 many Eastern Europeans came to Ireland. They brought in a corrupt working practice of buying their way into jobs. I had a Latvian woman apply for a job in my hotel, she offered me 365 Euro (her first weeks wages) to buy her way into the job. When I refused, and asked her why she did that? She explained that in Latvia this was the normal way you got a job. You paid the boss for your job. Her first job when she came to Ireland was in a meat factory, she had paid the Manager her first weeks wages to get the job. The factory was full of Eastern Europeans who had done the same. This culture of corruption, buying your way into jobs spread throughout the hotel industry during the Celtic Tiger. What you have to realise is this; an Irish employee would not buy their way into a job, as it is corrupt. But many Eastern Europeans thought this was normal, and so they got employed as a result. The Latvian applicant I interviewed in the Hotel I managed explained that when she left the meat factory, she would sell her job for a weeks wages to another Latvian; so she would get her money back. This is the way it works in Ireland she explained.

andala

I've a few friends working as housekeepers in a hotel in Ireland. There isn't a single Irish person working with them. Why? They said they've had a few people on trial periods but none of them lasted for more than 2 days as the job is hard and the Polish and Lithuanian stuff let the management exploit them beyond reason. None of the housekeepers has a full time contract, they're on flexi-time. They have to clean a room to a big chain hotel standards within 20 minutes and the supervisors make sure the tips the hotel guests leave are collected before the housekeepers get into the room. They earn the lowest hotel rate, about 9.27/h, and have done so for 4-5 years. Most of them have only basic English, if at all, and are perfectly aware they wouldn't be able to find a job elsewhere so they put up with it.

I can't say all hotels are the same, I just wrote what I heard from my friends

BraziliaNZ

guitarzero wrote: »

The economy has changed bro, get with the times. Thousands of folks have been carrying around their degrees and diplomas for years and recognize that its a false promise to think that because you have a qualification you are somewhat above working in positions that are less qualified/well paid. You should take full responsibility for the path you've taken. It's just a false assumption and a false sense of entitlement. You say you did your time but thats not time. Thats just work. If we took this attitude 4000 years ago I dont think we'd have pulled it off. I'm not saying to drop your CV into McDonalds but there are a fair few of lower wage jobs going that preserve your dignity and that could alleviate taxing our people.

Hi. I don't know why you're saying this to me, I haven't been out of work unless I was backpacking or something, since I was 15 or so!

pickarooney

woodoo wrote: »

For the life of me i cant understand why the government allows someone on the dole 5, 10, 15 years collect the same dole money as someone unemployed less than a year.

I completely agree. There should be some sort of length of service pay increases just like in any other sector.

prescar

freeze4real wrote: »

In fairness the Easter Europeans look way better than the Irish women and one can also say that they're very hard working.

And most Eastern European men have better facial features, keep in shape and are very hard workers.

angelfire9

I got a job about 6 months ago as a Duty Manager in a hotel
Salary of €21,500 with meals on shift
As I was on the dole I jumped at it
These were my hours for the first 2 weeks:
Mon 7am-1pm, 5pm-1am (14 hours)
Tues 7am-3pm, 6pm-1am (15 hours)
Wed off
Thursday off
Fri 7-3/6-3 (17 hours)
Sat 3pm-finish (3am) (12 hours)
Sun 7am-3pm/7pm-1am (14 hours)
Mon 7-4 (9 hours)
Tues 7-3 (8 hours)
Wed off
Thurs off
Fri 3-finish (4am) 13 hours
Sat 12-3 6-finish (3am) 12 hours
Sun 7am-4pm (9 hours)

Total hours in the fortnight: 123
Gross wages for the fortnight €830
Rate per hour €6.75

I have 2 kids I had no life, it was work, sleep, work, sleep, days off washing uniforms for next week, then more work sleep, work, sleep

This is why I don't work in hotels anymore
At €9 an hour I would have earned a gross of €550 average per week but most hotels employ staff on a salary rather than an hourly rate

woodoo

angelfire9 wrote: »

I got a job about 6 months ago as a Duty Manager in a hotel
Salary of €21,500 with meals on shift
As I was on the dole I jumped at it
These were my hours for the first 2 weeks:
Mon 7am-1pm, 5pm-1am (14 hours)
Tues 7am-3pm, 6pm-1am (15 hours)
Wed off
Thursday off
Fri 7-3/6-3 (17 hours)
Sat 3pm-finish (3am) (12 hours)
Sun 7am-3pm/7pm-1am (14 hours)
Mon 7-4 (9 hours)
Tues 7-3 (8 hours)
Wed off
Thurs off
Fri 3-finish (4am) 13 hours
Sat 12-3 6-finish (3am) 12 hours
Sun 7am-4pm (9 hours)

Total hours in the fortnight: 123
Gross wages for the fortnight €830
Rate per hour €6.75

I have 2 kids I had no life, it was work, sleep, work, sleep, days off washing uniforms for next week, then more work sleep, work, sleep

This is why I don't work in hotels anymore
At €9 an hour I would have earned a gross of €550 average per week but most hotels employ staff on a salary rather than an hourly rate

Do we not have laws stating thew max hours someone has to work in a week? And a min wage?

Biggins

woodoo wrote: »

Do we not have laws stating thew max hours someone has to work in a week? And a min wage?

We do - but some employers put it to workers that they can like it or lump it!
(I have personally seen this happen myself)

gerryo777

homerjay2005 wrote: »

cos irish people in general wont get out of bed for less than 15euro an hour and want a job that is easy as possible.

foreigners who come here, dont have the luxury of a grand a month + on social welfare to fall back on either if they leave their jobs, so they stay there and work as hard as they can.

What are you talking about?

gerryo777

woodoo wrote: »

Reducing the dole over time would see more Irish people willing to work in hotels.

For the life of me i cant understand why the government allows someone on the dole 5, 10, 15 years collect the same dole money as someone unemployed less than a year.

People can adapt their lives to live of €188 per week + rent allowance etc. They wouldn't find it as easy if that figure dropped to €168 after a year and then €148 and €128 etc. They would find themselves thinking maybe i'd be better off working in that hotel job.

Ah yes, the race to the bottom:rolleyes:

conor1979

Johnny Foreigner wrote: »

I am going to enlighten you all with the truth.
I worked for 10 years in Hotel Management so I feel I am in a position to comment on the above.
During the Celtic Tiger boom years 1994-2007 many Eastern Europeans came to Ireland. They brought in a corrupt working practice of buying their way into jobs. I had a Latvian woman apply for a job in my hotel, she offered me 365 Euro (her first weeks wages) to buy her way into the job. When I refused, and asked her why she did that? She explained that in Latvia this was the normal way you got a job. You paid the boss for your job. Her first job when she came to Ireland was in a meat factory, she had paid the Manager her first weeks wages to get the job. The factory was full of Eastern Europeans who had done the same. This culture of corruption, buying your way into jobs spread throughout the hotel industry during the Celtic Tiger. What you have to realise is this; an Irish employee would not buy their way into a job, as it is corrupt. But many Eastern Europeans thought this was normal, and so they got employed as a result. The Latvian applicant I interviewed in the Hotel I managed explained that when she left the meat factory, she would sell her job for a weeks wages to another Latvian; so she would get her money back. This is the way it works in Ireland she explained.

Just because one woman told you that was how it was doesn't exactly make it the truth!!

I have 13 years experience in bar/club/hotel management including a year in Prague and I have never heard of this practice going on anywhere.
This includes working with staff from many different eastern european countries as well as china and india.

I think it's that the Eastern Europeans came over when things were good and were the only ones willing to work in such awful conditions and for such awful wages.

I worked in hotels every summer through college and on my J1 and it's the hardest, most demanding, least rewarding job imaginable. You have to work your arse off for little more than the minimum wage. There are no rights for hotel workers. When I was cleaning rooms, we regularly had to turn them over in around 20 minutes. We were discouraged from using gloves and not trained on how to deal with cleaning bodily fluids. The supervisors went round and collected all the tips first thing in the morning before we got to them. At least with that job, we had normal hours (8.30 to 5) and got (crap) accommodation so there was no commute. When I worked on front desk, we were regularly given 'back-to-back' shifts, which meant finishing at 11pm and being back in at 7am. I'd get home after midnight, exhausted, and had to be up again at 5.30am to get the train in. As someone else said, if you complain or cause any hassle, they just slash your hours down to one shift a week so you're forced to leave.

I'd still rather have a job than be on the dole, but I think that would be the last job I'd ever pick.

gigino

Bishop Strong Suit wrote: »

You have to work your arse off for little more than the minimum wage.

Most workers in other countries work their arses off. And most if not all countries around the world have minimum wages less than ours. So why are little or no Irish staff up to being efficient enough to be hired in housekeeping in Ireland ? The HR manager says they know now not to offer a job to an Irish person because they will not stick more than 2 days. No work ethic or stamina. And yet we have half a million unemployed, many if not most it seems who cannot be bothered working that hard ?