During the congress, which took place between Friday and Saturday in Aracaju, Ana Paula Barbosa, director of retail services at Nielsen IQ, revealed the first numbers of the Restaurant and Similar Barometer, carried out in partnership with AHRESP.

According to the study, difficulties in recruitment and business contraction are concerns, with 1 in 3 respondents responding that they realise that their business decreased in the first two quarters of 2024, the association highlighted in a statement.

“Around 36% say they have felt a drop in consumption over this period of time, which may justify the percentage of 42% of respondents who say they are not confident about the next 6 months. More than half (52%) realise that the sector's revenue is decreasing”.

The main reason given as a potential reason for drops in consumption is lower purchasing power (80%).

Lack of training or experience (66%) is the main difficulty experienced in recruiting people to work in the sector, followed by the necessary bureaucracy (24%), communication problems (Portuguese language) and little supply or lack of interested people.

More than half (59%) have foreign workers, with Brazilian nationality being the predominant one (79%), while the topic of taxes and taxation (48%) is what concerns respondents most in the next 6 months.

Mental health

The “Health and Inclusion” session was dedicated, on the second day of the congress, to the discussion about mental health at work.

Antónia Correia, president of KIPT, said that the risk of 'quiet quitting' is greater among single workers (25%), and those between 25 and 34 years old (28%), according to the note from AHRESP press.

“Portuguese people are at greater risk of adopting the practice (23%) than foreigners (18%), as are employees with professional and higher education (57%), followed by those with less than basic education (50%). The propensity to give up is greater among those who earn more than 3 thousand euros (35%), followed by those who earn up to 999 euros (24%)”.

Among the conclusions found in the study carried out by the KIPT laboratory in partnership with AHRESP, it appears that to optimise talent retention, it is necessary to have effective management, that is, adapted to the needs of different types of workers – younger, immigrants, professionals with higher education.

The AHRESP 2024 national congress, which took place at the Aveiro Exhibition Park, with the motto "Management is having your heart on the right side", had 1,600 registrants and 62 speakers and 36 exhibitors, where they “shared knowledge, experiences, publicising innovations that can be applied to restaurants and tourist accommodation”.