The Isle of Man Government has announced that financial support is now in place to support its hospitality industry. The Government will provide financial assistance to local hospitality employers to attract islanders currently working in or studying hospitality in the UK to return to the island.
The Isle of Man Government’s Department for Enterprise is extending its Financial Assistance Scheme following ongoing discussions with the local hospitality industry, that is experiencing acute people and skills shortages.
This follows a survey of tourism providers on the Island that found there was a critical lack of people available with the desired skills and experience to fill vacancies within the sector.
Minister Laurence Skelly stated: “We continue to work closely with local ‘hospitality’ businesses to encourage the promotion of courses and apprenticeships for residents but appreciate the immediate request for resolution from the industry.
“The scheme is also designed to reward businesses who encourage skilled Islanders working or studying in the UK and abroad to return to the Isle of Man.”
The department will offer financial assistance of twenty per cent of the salary paid to the employee for the first year of their employment where their salary is more than £25,000 per year.
Head of Visit Isle of Man, Angela Byrne says: “Having seen the success of the Employee Relocation Incentive for other sectors we are looking forward to working with our Tourism and Hospitality providers to address the issues they have been facing in meeting skills shortages.
“Quality accommodation and food and beverage tourism are priorities for our visitors and in order to remain competitive as a destination of choice for our target audiences we need to ensure continued improvement which is only possible with experienced and skilled workers.”
H&C News Comment: The people and skills shortages in the Isle of Man hospitality industry is a micro model of the UK hospitality industry. Doubtless the financial support by the Isle’s government will result in many islanders returning to the *Crown Dependency from the UK. This will further negatively impact on hospitality employers across the UK experiencing the same people and skills shortages.
At the same time, we are seeing the UK government trying to push its immigration white paper through that will severely limit EU migrants who want to work in hospitality even entering the UK.
Surely someone in government can understand that the supply and demand for people to work in the UK hospitality industry is way out of kilter already. The hospitality industry is the UK’s fourth biggest industry in employment terms, as such employment statistics are key drivers in forecasting workforce supply and demand. It’s not looking good…
The Government’s Office for National Statistics shows the number of job vacancies in the UK is at its highest since records began.
The Government’s Office for National Statistics in its most recent report on employment in the UK also shows – that employment is at its highest since comparable records began in 1971 and that unemployment is at its lowest since 1975.
So, a record low in numbers of people unemployed – a record high in numbers of people employed – and a record high in numbers of job vacancies available – all at the same time.
The record high in vacancies also coincides with a record fall in the number of EU nationals working in the UK, a continuing trend since the Brexit referendum.
All this just before we put up barriers to EU migrants entering the UK to work in hospitality.
How long before the UK government is forced to follow the example set by The Isle of Man’s?
*The Crown Dependencies are three island territories off the coast of Great Britain that are self-governing possessions of the Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Isle of Man. They do not form part of either the United Kingdom or the British Overseas Territories.