Star chef Thierry Marx, president of the main hotel and restaurant business union, Umih, calls for the regularization of foreign employees in the sector “recognized for their skills”, in an interview with the Sunday newspaper.
This call comes a month after the Government revealed the guidelines of its bill on immigration that must be studied by parliamentarians in 2023 and provides in particular for the creation of a residence permit “employment in tension”, for the recruitment in sectors with labor shortages.
“Our sector, the restaurant sector, should already be considered under hiring pressure! We have 200,000 vacancies and, surprisingly, they are not on the list that allows the hiring of foreign personnel. The same for the hotel industry (…) “, protests Thierry Marx in the columns of the JDD.
In fact, the sector is facing recruitment difficulties increased by the pandemic and the needs will increase even more, according to the media star chef who was very active and listened to by public authorities during the health crisis. “When you’re looking for pastry chefs or cooks and you can’t find them in France, you have to look elsewhere,” he explains.
“Administrative delays”
“We ask for a rapid regularization of our foreign employees recognized for their skills and who find themselves immersed in illegality overnight”, Thierry Marx abounds in this interview, insisting on this long-standing request from the Umih, the union at the helm from which he was elected at the end of October. He denounces in particular the “administrative delays” or suspensions of residence permits without justification and the fragility of certain small businesses in the face of this uncertainty.
“Creating a residence permit for occupations in tension would facilitate procedures and give companies security,” he adds, highlighting the rapid increase in the qualifications of employees in the sector but also the dependence on others, such as the construction industry, on foreign employees. .
“Confusing security issues with issues of integration of people who do not commit crimes and who are a vital force for companies does not seem to me the appropriate method. You know, in the kitchen, mixing everything doesn’t necessarily make a good dish,” she concludes.
Source: BFM TV
