THE EVENTS INDUSTRY is trying to keep up with demand as activity increases around the country in the first summer since the government lifted Covid-19 restrictions.

As large concerts and festivals return, the effects of the pandemic’s disruptions to the industry are becoming clear, including the departure of some workers to other sectors and a lack of experience among younger workers who did not have opportunities to develop relevant skills.

Over the weekend, some attendees at Forbidden Fruit in Kilmainham and concerts in St Anne’s Park reported lengthy waits in queues for food or drink. 

The Journal contacted organisers about staffing levels at the event, but neither would respond.

Recruitment company Excel Recruitment is looking to fill more than 300 roles over the summer for events in locations like Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Punchestown Racecourse, St Anne’s Park and Fairview Park, as well as at Pride, the Galway Races, the Trinity Summer Series, and more.

Speaking to The Journal, CEO Shane McLave said the number of staff required to cover postponed gigs and festivals, as well as new ones, is “phenomenal”.

“We’re seeing big numbers coming in Cork, we’re seeing lots of things happening in Galway and all around Dublin as well,” McLave said.

The recruitment expert said that hospitality closures during the pandemic have meant that the typical college-aged demographic of bar workers who would have been gaining experience during that time weren’t because the roles weren’t available.

“With hospitality being closed in many ways for a couple of years, you’re seeing a lot of people coming through and doing it for the first time that we wouldn’t have seen before.”

He said that bars are implementing measures to accommodate “the fact that people maybe might not have the traditional skills, like more automated pouring systems, or coming up with good drinks menus where it’s as simple as opening a bottle and there’s ready-made drinks that don’t require the same kind of flair”.

McLave said there were “always a certain amount of weddings and events that happen in a year, so you take the couple of years where everything was postponed and there’s an increase of things happening simultaneously”.

There’s concerts happening every other night and there’s new festivals and new venues coming to us that previously wouldn’t have used contingency workers, but now they see the benefit of being able to get – at sometimes short notice, but certainly when there’s pinch points – high volumes of people for a set period of time, so it works for the employer and it works for the staff who want to go to these kind of events.

He said that events haven’t experienced inordinate queues to the extent of those seen at Dublin Airport, but that it will be important for venues to recruit enough staff.

“We still don’t want people congregating in large numbers, you need to try to move people through,” he said, adding that “people won’t stand for that anymore with big queues”.

Last month, speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Claire Byrne, MCD Managing Director Denis Desmond said the company was facing rising costs partly due to a labour shortage.

“There is a shortage of labour. A lot of people did leave the business during the pandemic, found alternative employment, so as a result of that there’s a shortage of people,” Desmond said.

“You’re having to hire new people, train them up,” he said.

The people who are still in the industry, there’s a big demand for their time.

For some roles behind the scenes, such as riggers, he said the company had flown in workers from abroad to work at events.

“In a lot of instances we’re flying in labour from Germany, Budapest, places like that. The increased cost is the extra involved in their flights, the hotel, and when there’s demand involved people charge a premium rate.”