Leader Training Algarve hotel regrets that contains gaps ... - Southern Region

leader of the largest hotel pool in the Algarve, Elidérico Viegas, lamented that the second edition of the Algarve Training Program, presented today, contains gaps that may prevent its use by a larger number of workers.

As president of the Association of hotels and resorts in the Algarve (AHETA), the ideal would be that the program encompassed three thousand workers per year, a figure that will not be achieved “minimally” because of the way the program is designed.

Among the shortcomings of the program, that charge lists the short duration of the training activities (seven months), their excessive workload and the fact that companies have to pay the tax burden for the entire salary of the employees affected, since the financial support covers only a part of the salary.

Elidérico Viegas spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the presentation of the edition 2013/2014 program, which was held today in the auditorium of Turismo do Algarve in Faro, and counted with the presence of the Secretaries of State for Employment, Pedro Roque, and Tourism, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes.

Pedro Roque admitted to reporters that last year the measure “arrived late to the ground”, so this year the Government made some adjustments in anticipation of the launch of the program in May, last year when it was launched in September, already very close to the season.

The second edition of the program includes an investment of two million euros actions aimed at vocational training for unemployed low season and support the renewal or conversion of fixed-term employment.

The goal is that the program can cover two to five thousand people, and can apply for all employees whose employment terminates between September 1 and November 30, 2013.

“It is an extension of a program which has already proved to have great success, regardless of if you agree the fact that it was submitted too late conditioned its use this year, “said Elidérico Viegas, suggesting a period of three years for training activities and reduction of workload.

According to the entrepreneur , excessive workload, among other factors, may have dictated a “limited use” the program had during this season, which was “far short” of what would be desirable.

“In our perspective, such a program could cover the order of three thousand workers per year and the way it is designed, we think that this will not reach minimal value, “he said.

In the season of 2012/2013, the program covered 500 people, including employment support and training, but the regional delegate of the Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP) Faro, Carlos Bay, admitted that the number was not higher because the ordinance on the program was published in late September .

The Algarve Training Program is addressed to employers who develop activity in the region and aimed at combating the effects of seasonal employment.

Winter is the time of year that seasonality is strongest in the region, due to the closure of hotels during the low season of tourism, the main economic activity of the Algarve.