Tourism in Charente-Maritime: "It's harder to recruit seasonal workers than it was 10 years ago, but no harder than last year."

Recruiting them isn't always easy , but for most of the managers interviewed (in La Rochelle, Châtelaillon-Plage, the Île de Ré and Oléron), there's nothing alarming compared to recent years. "It's harder to recruit seasonal workers than it was ten years ago, but no more so than last year. Before, we could really choose the profiles. We had a pile of CVs! Today, we have a lot less, but that's not from this year," explains Gregory Kindel, head of the seasonal workers branch of the Union of Trades and Industries of the Hotel Industry. Guillaume Jacques, president of the professional organization, agrees: "Two or three years ago, it was really very complicated. Today, even if we haven't found the same figures as ten years ago, we haven't had any particular difficulties recruiting." Some establishments, such as Les P'tits Loups in La Rochelle or L'Écume in Saint-Trojan-les-Bains, even claim to have encountered no recruitment problems.

Another development noted by tourism professionals over the past ten years is the evolution of candidate profiles. "Compared to five or ten years ago, we receive fewer applications from seasonal workers and more from people without experience. We therefore need to train them," notes Guillaume Jacques.

Most seasonal workers also want to be accommodated. While most campsites offer accommodation for their staff, this can be prohibitively expensive for some restaurant owners. Some municipalities have found a solution: in Châtelaillon-Plage, a job dating event connected seasonal candidates with city recruiters: "The goal was for managers to find young people who live within a 20-kilometer radius," explains Stéphane Villain, the seaside resort's mayor.

Other managers, such as Jean-Baptiste Dagréou, president of the Charente-Maritime Outdoor Hotel Federation, have a more pessimistic assessment: "We are seeing more and more seasonal workers who have little professional conscience. Some are hired but never come to work without even giving notice!"