The European Commission launched the European Passport for Hospitality Skills last week as an accessory to the curriculum vitae for making the hiring process easier between applicants and employers in the hotel and tourism sector in Europe as well as to promote hiring within the sector. The EU has promised to extend passports to other sectors of high mobility in Europe.
“The European Passport for Hospitality Skills constitutes an important practical tool to encourage mobility among European workers, in particular among young people, in a sector that presents an elevated growth potential,” the Commissioner of Employment and Social Issues, Laszlo Andor, explained.
Employment in the hospitality sector grew 2.9% annually between 2000 and 2010 and allowed for the creation of 2.5 million jobs, regarding the average rate of 0.7% in other sectors. In addition and according to a European study published at the end of 2013, it's a sector with a fundamental role for fighting youth unemployment which is around 22.5%, equivalent to more than 5 million unemployed people under the age of 25.
“This initiative is also a good example of the results of the social dialogue between the employers and labor unions on the European scale, and we hope that this cooperation will extend to other sectors of the labor market,” the Commissioner added.
The Passport, available in all official languages of the EU, has the goal of helping workers and employers to overcome linguistic barriers and to compare the abilities of the workers in hospitality to make the hiring process easier; given they will be able to register their abilities and aptitudes acquired during their education, training, and practical work experience, in an easy, accessible format.
The initiative is supported by the EU, and the European Organization of Businesses in the Hospitality Sector (HOTREC), and the European Federation of Labor Unions for Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Sectors (EFFAT). Also the Passport project is already being integrated into the popular European work portal Eures.
To promote it, the EU will organize a week of activities through social networks directed toward job seekers and employers in the sector of Europe to be publicized between the June 23 and 27.