Many of the job opportunities are tied to hygiene and safety management, yet also to the ever increasing digitalisation.
Summer’s here. And as tourism ramps up for a new season and activities resume after the pandemic-related disruptions, the number of job adverts is on the rise. Along with a handful of significant innovations associated with greater anti-contagion safety measures required for holiday resorts, digitisation has also picked up steam in recent months. Unsurprisingly, many of these new jobs are related to hygiene, safety management and all aspects of daily life that have changed a lot in the last year and a half.
New professional profiles
One new figure is the Safe Manager: a specialist who lays down and ensures compliance with standard health and safety procedures at a hotel or resort. The Safe Manager is one of a number of new professions that have been rendered suddenly necessary by the pandemic, i.e. since COVID-19 compelled establishments to change their plans, revise their organisation charts and rework virtually all their safety practices.
The leading all-inclusive holiday sector operator Club Med has crafted the Safe Manager into the key features of its post-COVID reboot, establishing this role in every company resort in Italy, France, Greece and Portugal for the summer of 2021.
The COVID Manager is similar to the Safe Manager, but in a broader context: this new role entails specific skill not only in the hotel sector but also in companies requiring someone to ensure compliance with contagion control measures.
The COVID Manager is the point of contact for contagion control measures regarding customers, employees and collaborators, and is responsible for ensuring compliance with social distancing and the new rules, e.g. order in access flows to facilities. This role also handles everything concerning Safe&Health management: assuming the helm regarding site hygiene, signposting and the provision of personal protective equipment and sanitising gels.
In fact, the COVID Manager is the post-pandemic version of the age-old Office Manager, i.e. the person in an office or hotel responsible for managing people, resources and activities. Needless to say, they should be up to date with the regulations, familiar with the latest government implementation decrees on pandemic containment provisions, able to work in stressful situations and capable of communicating with colleagues and guests.
COVID Managers also work with medical professionals and coordinate the implementation of prevention and control measures, monitor activities and act as a reference point for the structures of the Regional Healthcare System. The Covid Manager also serves as a key figure in streamlining contact tracing.
With the summer holidays gearing into full swing in the coming months, there is also a need for professionals such as the Spa Receptionist: a sort of wellness butler who will be increasingly in demand in luxury spas to maximise guest well-being while ensuring the safety and reliability of the premises. More specifically, Spa Receptionists schedule the therapies prescribed by doctors and follow the client throughout their stay.
In addition to the novelties proposed by companies in the holiday sector, there are also plenty of professions which, in general, are inevitably experiencing a great increase in demand. These are mainly figures linked to the digital world, starting with Search Engine Marketing Specialists (SEO/SEM), who work on increasing consumer adherence on social networks and company websites, thus rendering marketing strategies operational. And as holiday bookings are going digital more than ever this year, this figure is also one of the most in-demand on tour operator platforms today.
We also can cite e-commerce Business Analysts, responsible for analysing online sales data, studying online sales trends, variations and future potential. Finally, the e-commerce manager, equivalent to the commercial director, is increasingly sought after to spearhead a company’s online business unit: defining the strategy behind sales activities through digital channels, business planning, definition of marketing guidelines.