Staff shortages in tourist areas.

[StaffShortages]

I've just returned from the Lake District and there's a severe shortage of staff, partly due to Brexit but also apparently because of a lack of affordable accommodation. One chip shop was offering £14 an hour for a counter assistant. Many restaurants shut for a day or two because of staff shortages.

Is the same happening in other touristy parts of the UK?

There's just far too many people. UK population has near enough doubled in 100 years.

Well, the very people who voted leave are being affected by staff shortages too, in normal cafes, pubs, shops and trades.

As for not being able to afford rent, let alone buy a home, these costs have risen astronomically over recent years... not blaming it all on Brexit but leaving the EU has not solved any problems at all.

@Alexandra2001 .Re the EU we can now see what the real problems are. Problems take longer to solve especially when people can’t see the wider picture.

Out of interest in the 80’s and 90’s there seemed to be many more Australian and New Zealander couples/ singles working for 6 months on their tours of Europe. What happened to them?

In the same period the population also doubled in Japan.
Which has almost zero immigration.
The main reason the population grew that fast in Japan or in UK was delayed mortality.
I adjusted the chart to extend from 1922 to 2022, btw, title is slightly wrong.
So are we complaining now that people don't die young enough?!

It was a double whammy in lake district of brexit and covid. A number of big hotels kicked their staff out during covid with no warning and people didn't want to return after. So now the big hotels are trying to get locals recruited. It's not affordable to live here, so the pool of people is small.

The average will be much lower because there are places that aren't on people's desirable 2nd home areas. I'd expect there to be quite a few holiday chalet type places in pretty seaside areas in somewhere like N. Norfolk.

I stayed in one, not in N. Norfolk, and it was not built as a permanent dwelling, but was fine for a holiday. It was quite cramped, chalets close to each other, no garden etc.

There are places where people will want to have a second home, and places that will appeal to holidaymakers. Those will have a high percentage.
I don't think for example tha someone would look at some of the towns near where I'm from and fancy a holiday there or a second home, but a decent size farmhouse with views of the countryside with tourist areas within a 30 mile radius is.
If I was talking about, say, Rock or St Ives, I'd expect it to be quite a high percentage, but not a sleepy village 15 miles inland, with nothing other than a pub there.

Who are all these people buying second homes everywhere? I live in the Cotswolds and don't know anyone who owns a second home. In fact most people I can think of don't even own at all, they rent either privately or through the council.

They're not buying them everywhere. They're buying them in areas where people are going to want to go on holiday.
A holiday in the Cotswolds sounds lovely, but you might be in an area that isn't touristy. I wouldn't be planning on a holiday in Yate, for example.

I guess my point kind of was the Cotswolds is very touristy (without giving my exact location but it is in that AONB area, which Yate isn't I don't think). Either way the second home owners seem to be a certain pool of people, but its made to sound like everyone is at it.

It's not just the UK though. When we were in France last year lots of places in tourist areas didn't have enough staff to open every day. Hotels we booked for overnight stays whilst traveling had closed their restaurants completely which was a pain because we arrived and then had to go out again to get food.

Was also talking to an American earlier this year and he said it was the same in the States. Can't get hospitality workers for love nor money apparently . So many eating places closing down.

When we were in France last year lots of places in tourist areas didn't have enough staff to open every day. Hotels we booked for overnight stays whilst traveling had closed their restaurants completely which was a pain because we arrived and then had to go out again to get food

Remember though that France has some pretty strict labour laws on hours worked, giving staff time off is a requirement that cannot be ignored and ZHC are illegal.

Having just left France, its not something we see very often, some hotels shutting restaurants for a couple of days a week is nothing new.

@memoriesofamiga , I've just done a quick search for a cottage in the Cotswolds for 2 adults and 2 primary school age children for the weekend coming up and there was plenty of choice, so somebody is doing it.
Bear in mind that it's a bank holiday weekend, so availability would be lower than usual.

Yes noticed this in Norfolk a few weeks ago.
We were camping with loads of other people. Nice village pub, last orders was 9.30! That's halfway through their pub quiz!

It was heaving in there, but the guy blamed staffing.

The way businesses run in Norfolk based on my experience baffles me, it's like they don't want to make a profit or are blind to demand, as long as they make enough to tick along.

I know a chip shop opposite a massive Haven site that closes at 7pm. On a Friday night. Even when there's a queue out the door. And it's alway been like that.

This is a local chip shop. For local people.

It's a problem where we live. So many holiday let's. It means the number of children at the locals schools are going down as well and it's causing funding problems. It's been happening for years but is especially bad now. My primary school closed a couple of years after I left. Now it's happening in the towns as well.
There's so many tourists it's spoiling the very community that attracts them.
Can be a bit like living in beamish at times.

But if they earn enough for themselves to live the life they want with a little to spare for the bad times why should they drive for higher profits ?

They provide a service to their community why should they be expected to provide a service to holiday makers as well ?

It’s not just in the UK - it’s anywhere where property prices have zoomed into the stratosphere. Which is loads of places now, inc. where Brexit was never a factor.
A DSis lives in Cape Cod, E coast US, where never mind hospitality staff, even much needed trades people like plumbers can no longer afford to live. So serious, the town are taking action to buy land and build affordable rental accommodation.

Because heaven forbid the tradespeople be able to buy a property there!

It's common for chip shops to open limited hours so they don't breach the VAT registration threshold. They end up losing money if they go over the threshold slightly and have to pay thousands in VAT.

I'd never thought of the VAT thing, but it makes sense. Didn't realise they could lose money, but the paperwork etc at the margins must be a real deterrent.

@Namechange62846 what are you trying to imply?

The point is, that you now need to be seriously loaded to buy any property at all there. Very wealthy people have bought up so much for holiday homes.

My sister can only live there because she and her dh who died far too young years ago, had bought a wreck in the 80s and renovated it.

I heard from a local while visiting last Sept. that their nearest mental health facility can’t even find a psychiatrist willing to move there, cost of property being prohibitive and so little anyway for long term rental.

@taxguru

Good point I never thought of that. Just seems weird that a business that is a potential goldmine starts turning away hungry holidaymakers at 6.45pm in order to close at 7pm on the dot.

As @kelsaycobbles says if they make enough and are happy why drive for higher profits but if that was me I'd rather make hay while the sun shines so I could hang up my apron and retire early.

St Minver is 40% second homes. That won't include commercial holiday lets. Which probably explains why St Ives is 'only' 15%, as another 10% of the former homes there are short-term holiday lets.

The City of London has about 9,000 residents as the square mile is mostly filled with businesses. If a business in the City of London needs to hire someone, that person could walk in from a neighbouring borough, or commute in from further afield on the widely available public transport.

If a restaurant in St Minver needs to hire a waiter and can't recruit from the limited resident population, the only public transport is a bus that runs every two hours and finishes at six so they are probably going to be reliant on someone driving in to do it, which automatically rules out under-17s.

I was in Scarborough earlier in the summer, and talked about this to a member of RNLI staff. THe life boat crews are volunteers, and have to live within 10 minutes / 2 miles of the station to enable them to get there quickly enough when their pagers go off. There are areas of the UK now where the volunteers, who generally have standard shop / bus driver / teacher type jobs, can't get housing within this distance, because of increased house prices / 2nd homes / Air BnBs taking smaller, centrally located, homes.

We've just come back from touring Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Staff shortages everywhere. Is that cos of Brexit too?

Denmark and Germany - huge shortage of lorry drivers.

All places - huge shortage of hospitality staff.