Côte d'Azur tourism professionals satisfied with the publication of the list of professions in demand

Finally, it's here. Hospitality and restaurant professionals have been waiting for it since February: the list of occupations in short supply has been published in the Official Journal. The decree of May 21, 2005, thus sets out the various positions affected by region.

For the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var (and the Paca region as a whole), the following are affected: cooks and chefs, hotel employees as well as kitchen assistants, kitchen apprentices and multi-skilled restaurant employees.

"Not a call for immigration"

This recognition was welcomed by Eric Abihssira, vice-president of the UMIH Confederation, who also heads the UMIH Nice Côte d'Azur Hotel and Restaurant Tourism Federation, which spearheaded the project: "Obviously, we would have liked all the professions to be recognized as being in short supply in all regions. There are still a few holes in the net. But overall, we are satisfied."

And for good reason, this text allows employers to activate levers, in particular by facilitating procedures for foreign candidates. "This is not a call for immigration," clarifies the representative of the profession, who explains that he is addressing workers "in a legal situation" on French soil. They sometimes find themselves in difficulty due to the length of administrative procedures.

"Every year, employees trained by our teams, who provide complete satisfaction, are left by the wayside. Because when they find themselves at the end of their rights, faced with overwhelmed services, they do not always manage to obtain their residence permit in time. There are people at the prefecture who help us, but we cannot deal with it on a case-by-case basis," says Eric Abihssira, who explains that he has approached the new prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Laurent Hottiaux, on this subject: "If we can find ways and means to make the task easier for our employees, by setting up a process in a quasi-automatic way, this would avoid leaving these employees..." The challenge is there. And it is a daily one.