The European Commission launched on 17 June the European Hospitality Skills Passport, a tool developed to facilitate contact between job-seekers and employers in the hospitality and tourism sector in Europe. The Skills Passport allows workers and employers to overcome language barriers and to compare hospitality workers’ skills in order to facilitate recruitment in the sector. Hosted on the European Job Mobility Portal EURES, the skills passport is available in all EU official languages. The passport will be extended to other sectors in the future.
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The Skills Passport is a Commission initiative in association with employee and employer organisations in the hospitality sector: HOTREC, the umbrella association representing hotels, restaurants, cafés and similar establishments in Europe; and EFFAT, the European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism sectors.
With the Skills Passport, workers can record all the skills and competences gained during their education, training and practical work experience in an easily accessible format. The Passport complements a traditional Curriculum Vitae and enables employers to quickly overcome language barriers and to find the skilled workers they need to fill their vacancies. It therefore facilitates a better match between supply and demand on the hospitality labour market.
The European Hospitality Skills Passport is the first in a series of passports aimed at high-mobility sectors of the European economy. The Commission is committed to supporting mobility on the European labour market as one way of improving employment, and will continue to work with its partners to expand the European Skills Passport tool to support other high-mobility sectors in Europe.
Background
In April 2014 over 5 million young people under 25 were unemployed in the EU, with a overall youth unemployment rate reaching 22.5%. This makes it even more important to support sectors that have consistently provided young people with opportunities, such as the hospitality and tourism sector.
A Europe-wide study published at the end of 2013 revealed that the hospitality sector plays a critical role in fighting youth unemployment and is essential for jobs and growth and the health of other sectors. These findings are backed up by labour market statistics, which show that employment in the hospitality sector grew by 2.9% per year in 2000-2010, which created 2.5 million jobs. This is compared to an average rate of 0.7%.
To promote the launch of the Skills Passport, the Commission, HOTREC, EFFAT and EURES have organised a European Hospitality Skills Passport Thematic Week on 23 – 27 June 2014. This will be held across the partners’ social media accounts and will engage with job seekers and employers in the hospitality and tourism sector throughout Europe to introduce them to the features of the tool.
European Hospitality Skills Passport tutorial for employers
European Hospitality Skills Passport tutorial for job seekers
