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Changes to work permits are urgently needed to prevent a “mass exodus” of restaurant, bar and café workers in the next 18 months, industry leaders are warning.
But calls for help to Ministers – whose plans for the coming years apparently risk "killing off the industry" altogether – are falling on deaf ears, according to the Jersey Hospitality Association...
They have criticised the Government's inefficiency and lack of vision for causing issues with staffing and financing hospitality businesses and exacerbating the challenges already faced by the industry.
They have called for changes to support the industry's growth and alleviate impending challenges, but claim the Government has sidelined their calls for help.
Responding to a request for comment from Express, the Home Affairs Minister today described the figures being quoted by the Jersey Hospitality Association as "surprising" and said she would "would question how they have arrived at those".
Staffing issues identified by the Jersey Hospitality Association include a lack of incentives for migrant hospitality workers and requirements that force them to leave for extended periods before returning.
Previously, foreign hospitality workers on seasonal permits could only stay on the island for nine months before having to leave for at least three months.
But changes to rules earlier this year meant that they were able to switch to a permit allowing them to stay for up to three years – provided they then leave for the same period of time.
Video: Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles announced the changes to the permit policy in February.
Jersey Hospitality Association Co-CEOs Marcus and Ana Calvani argue that this could potentially be crippling – and are arguing that the absence period should remain at three months, as businesses will otherwise have to start recruitment from scratch to replace experienced staff who are not allowed to return for the following season.
But that call, they say, has so far fallen on deaf ears.
They raised their concerns in a letter to politicians tasked with scrutinising the Government Plan for the next three years.
The politicians are part of the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel that reviews policies related to the development of the economy.
In the letter, the pair warned of a “catastrophic impact” on their industry, “lowering productivity, increasing costs to recruit and retrain and have absolutely no benefit to Jersey in any way whatsoever.”
“Despite explaining this to [Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles] and her officials, they have refused to alter the policy so that there would be a three-month absence period, a change that would meet their policy objective and assist our members,” Mr and Mrs Calvani added. Express has contacted the Government for comment.
The pair warned that up to 4,000 staff could leave the island by mid-2025 – a huge chunk of the hospitality sector, which makes up around one-tenth of the island’s workforce (roughly 6,500 jobs according to the latest labour market data).
The JHA Chiefs also argued that a recent tax break policy for foreign workers coming to the island on short-term business visits only benefited the finance and professional sectors – neglecting hospitality workers.
“These measures do not apply to our industry or have any impact. Hospitality businesses rely on seasonal and temporary workers from overseas, and since Brexit and Covid, employers have had to recruit from outside the EU," they said.
The request comes at a time when the industry is already aching and due to be battered with utility price increases, and duty rises.
Ministers are proposing to increase the duty on alcohol by nearly 9%, with the claim that would add 4p to a pint of beer.
“This will not mean that the price of an average pint of beer will rise by 4p. What this actually means is a 4p increase per pint at the point of production on beverages with less than 4.9% alcohol,” said the JHA leaders.
Pictured: Hospitality firms have faced price increases.
“Once that pint has reached a customer in one of Jersey’s pubs, that 9% increase in duty will have become an extra £1 from 1st January 2024. We find that impossible to reconcile with ‘the Government’s support of the hospitality industry’.”
They added that there was “no evidence globally that a higher alcohol tax reduces consumption”.
The duty rises were branded as reflective of “a government being deaf to the needs of businesses and expecting them to fund services when they are facing a tsunami of rising costs”.
“One of our major concerns is that the Council of Ministers is not operating in a joined-up way," Mr and Mrs Calvani said.
"We have heard the Treasury Minister speak about the need to reach a balance, but it would seem to us that while one department wants to nurture and grow the industry, others do not understand the effect their policies have on businesses and people in the real economy."
This, they said, was stifling the growth of the sector, with investors “put off by the lack of vision and growth”.
The letter itself was penned just days before Nude Food announced its closure after struggles to secure investment.
Longstanding nightclub Rojos also recently announced it would be shutting in the new year, with owner JP Anquetil saying that “basically everything is stacked against having a vibrant nighttime industry."
Green Goose Jersey, a golf shop and café at Beaumont reduced its opening hours and put prices up last week due to “continually rising costs”.
This week, a £90,000 report commissioned by Government found that one of the greatest barriers to doing business on the island was Government itself – both in terms of administration and policy. Particular concerns were raised over a lack of action to make St Helier a “vibrant town centre”.
Pictured: Nude Dunes had only opened several months ago.
In a bid to help hospitality, Scrutiny politicians are proposing that Government freezes alcohol duty next year.
Kirsten Morel – who was recently renamed the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development – said last week that he was talking with the Treasury Minister about what could be done to help.
However, while he said he was a “champion for cutting red tape”, Deputy Morel said it was “far too late” to make a change to the duty increase in the Government Plan.
The proposed freeze will be voted on next week, as debate over the Government Plan, which sets spending priorities for the next three years, gets underway.
Responding to a request for comment from Express today, the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs said: “In April 2023, we introduced a 12-month renewable temporary hospitality work permit to assist the sector in recruiting overseas employees. The maximum allowable time on the route is three years, followed by an absence equal to the amount of time spent in the Island. This was in addition to the existing nine-month route, with a three-month absence period.
“In the past 24 months, Jersey Customs and Immigration Service has issued 2,934 temporary hospitality work permits to 1,854 employees.
“Only 250 employees have been issued with 12-month renewable temporary hospitality work permits, who would be subject to the longer absence period equal to the time spent in the Island. The remainder have been issued nine-month permits which require a three-month absence.
“It is therefore surprising to hear the figures being quoted by the Jersey Hospitality Association, and we would question how they have arrived at those."
Pictured: Deputy Helen Miles described the figures being quoted by the Jersey Hospitality Association as "surprising" and said she would "would question how they have arrived at those".
Deputy Helen Miles continued: “We have met with the JHA, explained the rationale behind the absence period on numerous occasions and they have been advised that it will be reviewed should meaningful data be presented that show that the policy does not work for the sector (the route replicates the one in place for the construction sector, which has been in place far longer).
“These are temporary routes which do not lead to settlement and the expectations of those travelling to the Island to work must be managed. Short absence periods from Jersey between long work-permit periods may result in claims for settlement based on long residence or claims that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights has been breached if they are unable to apply for settlement.
“There is an expectation that while a person is in Jersey on temporary work-permit employment that they develop their language/employment skills and where an appropriate route is available switch to skilled work-permit employment. It is hoped that employers encourage this development within their staff and reap the long-term benefits of moving staff to a work permit route that leads to settlement.”
Pictured top: Marcus and Ana Calvani captured by Max Burnett.
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