More than 1,500 jobseekers flock to Liverpool hospitality and tourism jobs fair as city gears up to welcome 100,000 visitors for Eurovision. Tony McDonough reports
More than 1,500 people have attended a jobs fair in Liverpool that is looking to fill some of the thousands of city region hospitality vacancies.
During the COVID shutdowns and restrictions many workers drifted away from the hospitality and leisure sector. Post-COVID bars, restaurants, hotels and other venues have struggled to recruit enough staff.
In April Aintree will host the annual Grand National meeting and in May an estimated 100,000 people will descend on Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Both of these events will kick off what is likely to be the busiest summer for the city’s hospitality and leisure sector since before the pandemic. In July the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake will host the Open Golf Championship.
Held at the waterfront ACC Liverpool venue, the jobs fair saw 43 employers, including hotels and travel companies, taking part. They included Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the Jockey Club and Liverpool Football Club.
Between them they were offering 2,382 vacancies. The event was organised by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, the Department for Work and Pensions, Liverpool City Council and Growth Platform.
Although hospitality jobs are often seen as low paid and transitional, there are high paid roles in the sector and opportunities to learn new skills and embark on a real career. Both temporary and permanent jobs were offered at the fair paying up to £30,000 a year.
Eurovision is predicted to be directly worth around £25m to the city region economy when it takes over Liverpool in May. It could also increase tourism to the city by up to 5% a year. That equates to more than £250m extra revenue by 2026.
This Eurovision recruitment fair was the first in a series of careers roadshows across the city region. They also include mini recruitment events and a campaign to raise awareness of the hospitality and tourism economy in schools.
Mini recruitment fairs are planned in Halton, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.
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The recruitment fair was attended by Microsoft who offered digital accessibility support to jobseekers – including translation. Jobseekers were also able to sign up for training courses to improve their chances of finding work in the sector.
Combined Authority executive director for investment and strategic delivery, Aileen Jones, said: “Eurovision presents a huge opportunity for Liverpool city Region, its people and its visitor economy.
“With around 100,000 extra visitors expected and the eyes of the world on us, we are determined to do the city and Ukraine proud (Ukraine was originally scheduled to host this year’s contest).
“This recruitment fair is helping ensure we give visitors to Eurovision and the other world-famous events the city region is hosting, the best possible welcome so they keep coming back.”