The restaurant and hospitality sector (HoReCa) in Italy is showing strong demand for waitstaff in the 2024–2025 period. According to InfoJobs data, in the first half of 2024 the “Tourism and Hospitality” category accounted for approximately 6.1% of all job postings published on the platform, marking an increase compared to the previous year. In winter 2024 (October–December), there was a boom in opportunities, with around 15,900 total job listings, up 8.4% compared to the same period in 2023. In particular, the Tourism and Hospitality sector recorded a +20% increase in postings during the winter quarter, rising from 2,269 to over 2,700 open positions.
This positive trend is driven by the post-pandemic recovery of tourism and seasonal peaks. Overall, employment in the Italian tourism sector grew by +2.1% in 2024 compared to 2023, surpassing 1.5 million workers. This confirms the sector’s vitality, but also highlights a growing imbalance between labor supply and demand, as many waitstaff positions remain unfilled (as detailed below).
1. Most In-Demand Roles in the HoReCa Sector
Waitstaff remain among the most sought-after roles in Italy’s HoReCa sector, especially during peak tourist seasons.
Analyses from various industry observers consistently identify front-of-house waiters as the most in-demand professional profile in the Italian HoReCa market. A 2024 Assolavoro Datalab report ranks waiters (including café counter staff) in first place among the top 10 most requested professions in the food & beverage sector. Kitchen staff (chef de partie and commis chefs) rank second, followed by food retail roles such as shelf stockers and sales assistants in third place.
Recruitment platform data confirms this trend. For example, the InfoJobs Observatory for the 2024 winter season identifies waiters as the most requested role in the Tourism and Hospitality sector, followed by tour animators and bartenders; completing the top five are head chefs and catering staff. Nationally, in the overall ranking of the most searched professions online, waiters rank in the top 10 (9th place on InfoJobs in the first half of 2024), highlighting the high volume of listings for this role.
Demand for front-of-house staff reaches particularly high peaks in summer. FIPE-Confcommercio estimated that by the end of August 2024, demand for waiters would exceed 137,000 positions, making it the single most sought-after role in the Italian job market for the summer season. By comparison, vacancies for chefs during the same period were roughly one-third of that figure, underscoring how central front-of-house roles (waiters, bartenders, sommeliers) are to the sector’s staffing needs.
2. Skills and Requirements Most Sought After by Employers
Employers in the HoReCa sector look for waitstaff who combine specific technical skills with strong interpersonal soft skills. In terms of formal requirements, completing hospitality school or professional training in tourism and catering is often valued, as is several years of prior experience in the role. Additionally, HACCP certification (food safety compliance) is generally mandatory to work legally as front-of-house staff. Proficiency in at least one foreign language, particularly English, is now considered almost essential in tourist destinations, although this depends on the specific context.
As for soft skills, several qualities are fundamental for waitstaff. In particular:
- Friendliness and courtesy: maintaining a polite and positive attitude with guests is essential for quality service.
- Communication skills: waiters must communicate clearly with customers and colleagues, listen carefully to requests or complaints, and relay information accurately to the kitchen or management. This includes active listening, emotional intelligence, and even a touch of storytelling when presenting dishes and wines.
- Memory and attention to detail: remembering menu items, ingredients, multiple table orders, as well as customers’ allergies or preferences, is crucial. A good waiter pays attention to every detail of the service experience.
- Problem-solving under pressure: during peak hours or when facing issues (incorrect orders, kitchen delays, dissatisfied customers), waitstaff must remain calm and find quick, effective solutions. Stress tolerance and teamwork are therefore extremely important.
In summary, the modern professional waiter must combine technical knowledge (basic food and wine knowledge, hygiene regulations, use of handheld devices and POS systems, etc.) with strong customer-oriented soft skills. This versatility is what employers evaluate in candidates, as high-quality service has a direct impact on the overall dining experience.
3. Supply and Demand Trends in the Italian Market
Over the past two years, the Italian labor market for waitstaff has seen growing demand that has not been matched by a sufficient increase in the supply of available workers. The recovery of tourism in 2023–2024 prompted many businesses to seek additional front-of-house staff. For example, in 2024 job postings in the Tourism and Hospitality sector increased significantly year over year (as noted, +20% in the autumn/winter quarter). On an annual scale, the Excelsior information system (Unioncamere-ANPAL) records hundreds of thousands of planned hires in the sector each month: in August 2024 alone, Italian companies projected 68,000 new hires in tourism (accommodation and food services).
At the same time, the supply of workers, especially qualified staff, has struggled to keep pace. Many employees left the sector during the pandemic and have been slow to return, while younger workers appear less inclined to pursue a career as waitstaff under current contractual conditions. This misalignment is reflected in a high rate of unfilled positions and a widespread perception of staff shortages, despite overall employment levels rising.
In practice, employer demand for waitstaff far exceeds the number of candidates willing, or adequately skilled, to take on the role, creating a clear mismatch in the labor market.
4. Trends and Challenges in Recruiting Waitstaff
Data shows that it is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to find qualified waitstaff and front-of-house personnel. According to Unioncamere, in August 2024 approximately 48.9% of planned hires across all sectors were considered hard to fill, primarily due to a lack of suitable candidates. In the restaurant industry, the situation is even more critical: front-of-house and kitchen roles are difficult to fill in more than half of cases. Excelsior statistics indicate that 55.5% of restaurant owners and food service worker roles are classified as “hard to recruit,” a percentage well above the average across other sectors.
An analysis by the Fondazione Studi Consulenti del Lavoro confirms this trend: in 2024, hard-to-fill positions in tourism reached 604,000, equal to 51.8% of the total — more than triple the figure recorded just a few years earlier. Specifically, 61.7% of chef positions, 59.8% of pastry chef roles, and 54.7% of waiter roles were reported as difficult to fill. This means that more than one in two job postings for waitstaff remains vacant due to a lack of suitable candidates, with direct consequences for service continuity and quality.
The causes of this chronic shortage are multiple. On the one hand, there is a mismatch between demand and available skills: candidates may lack the required training or experience (such as language proficiency or advanced service techniques), or may prefer jobs in sectors offering better hours and greater stability. The strong seasonality of contracts, relatively low wages, and demanding working conditions (evening shifts, weekends, temporary contracts) make waiter roles less attractive to many potential workers. On the other hand, restaurant owners often point to a perceived lack of willingness among younger generations to accept demanding roles, fueling debate about the responsibilities of employers versus workers in closing this gap.
The consequences for businesses are tangible: many establishments struggle to find sufficient staff, sometimes reducing seating capacity or operating days during peak season. In 2025, Confcommercio warned that the trade, tourism, and restaurant sectors could face a shortage of approximately 258,000 qualified workers, a deficit up 4% compared to the previous year. Among the most lacking roles are waiters, as well as bartenders, chefs/pizza chefs, gelato makers, pastry chefs, and hotel housekeeping staff. This situation has been described as a “true emergency” that risks slowing sector growth.
Industry associations emphasize the need for action on multiple fronts: improving contractual conditions (wages, working hours, career prospects) to make front-of-house roles more attractive, investing more in targeted training (schools and vocational programs that prepare workers for the profession), and strengthening active labor market policies to better match supply and demand. Some local initiatives, such as in the Abruzzo region, aim to train foreign workers to fill staffing gaps. In the short term, especially during the summer season, many businesses rely on temporary staff or incentives (such as accommodation or bonuses) to secure enough waiters.
5. Comparison with Other European Countries
The shortage of waitstaff is not limited to Italy but is widespread across much of Europe in the post-pandemic period. Several major tourist destinations, including Spain, France, Germany, Croatia, and Greece, report similar difficulties in recruiting HoReCa staff. Spanish media, for example, reported that in summer 2024 nearly half of bar and restaurant positions in Spain remained unfilled due to a lack of candidates. In Croatia, waiters were the most sought-after profile overall in 2023, and countries such as Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, and several Scandinavian nations also recognize waitstaff as among the most in-demand professions.
As early as 2022, the World Travel & Tourism Council estimated that approximately 1.2 million tourism-related jobs in the European Union were vacant due to a shortage of qualified staff. While tourism demand has strongly rebounded across Europe, the supply of hospitality workers has struggled to return to pre-2020 levels. It is also worth noting that contractual conditions in some countries are more attractive than in Italy. According to FIPE, waiter employment contracts in Italy are among the “weakest” in Europe in terms of protections and working hours, prompting many young workers to seek opportunities abroad.
In summary, the shortage of waitstaff represents a pan-European challenge that requires coordinated action at both national and EU levels to promote training, improve job quality in the sector, and encourage labor mobility where necessary.
6. Sources
The information and data cited come from official sources and industry observatories, including the Excelsior Information System by Unioncamere-ANPAL, analyses by the Fondazione Studi Consulenti del Lavoro, ISTAT and FIPE-Confcommercio data, as well as reports from job platforms such as InfoJobs and studies by Assolavoro Datalab. Below are the references for verification and further reading:
- Excelsior Information System – Unioncamere / ANPAL
- Excelsior on the ANPAL website
- Excelsior on the Unioncamere website
- Statistical analyses and reports – Fondazione Studi Consulenti del Lavoro
- ISTAT – press releases and labor market data
- InfoJobs – Observatory and labor market analysis
- Confcommercio – labor market analysis
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