School is no longer worth it, in bars and restaurants the salary of waitresses reaches up to 200 thousand lek/month

2025-05-23 09:04:00, Sociale CNA

School is no longer worth it, in bars and restaurants the salary of waitresses

In bars and restaurants, wages continue to increase due to a shortage of workers.

Enri Jahja, president of the Association of Bars and Restaurants, says that the increase in salaries for service sector employees in bars and restaurants has continued this year, with an average of 10 to 20%.

In Tirana, according to him, salaries for the position of waiter start from 50 thousand lek per month and can reach up to 120 thousand lek, depending on the bar. For bartenders, salaries range from 60 thousand to 120 thousand lek per month, while for cocktail preparation professionals, salaries reach up to 200 thousand lek per month.

There has also been a significant increase in salaries for employees of bars and restaurants in coastal areas. For the positions of waiter, bartender and assistant chef, salaries range from 80 thousand to 150 thousand lek per month for an 8-hour work schedule. While for employees with extended hours, at least 12 hours a day, the monthly salary reaches up to 200 thousand lek.

According to Jahje, this wage increase is a consequence of a broken balance between demand and supply in the labor market, where demand is very high, while supply is low and often without proper training.

Despite the wage increases, the sector continues to suffer from a labor shortage. Yahya claims that the hiring of foreign workers is continuing, mainly from countries such as the Philippines, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan.

"Although our country is seen as a springboard for moving to European countries and the bureaucracy for providing employment documentation takes up to two months, many foreign agencies have opened to recruit foreign workers. Foreign personnel are proving to be better trained and more manageable," he claims.

In the last 2-3 years, the bar and restaurant sector has been among the most affected by the lack of labor, also referring to the data of the Çelësi index for job announcements. In 2022, it turned out that there were 45,670 job announcements. Compared to 2021, their number increased by 14%.

While in 2023, according to the Bar and Restaurant Association, the industry lacked 15,000 employees during the tourist season. This industry marked the highest number of vacancies, after the fashion sector due to emigration.

To solve the workforce crisis as a whole, the sector began to change its behavior towards employees, such as working hours, providing food to staff, and continuously reviewing salaries.

By 2019, according to INSTAT data, there were around 45,000 people employed in bars and restaurants, although it is estimated that the sector has high informality. There are a total of 15.5 thousand bars in the country, up from 22 thousand in 2015, making it the second most popular activity in the country, after the retail business./ Monitor Magazine