The labor shortage in the tourism sector of southern Gran Canaria is finding an effective solution with a significant social impact through a collaboration between the Canary Islands Government's Department of Social Welfare and RIU Hotels & Resorts. The signing of an agreement has resulted in the hiring of 50 young people formerly in foster care at the group's establishments, within the framework of the regional Urdimbre program.
These types of initiatives demonstrate how tourism, vital to the island's economy, can be a crucial vehicle for the social and professional inclusion of vulnerable youth. The Urdimbre program not only seeks to provide a first job opportunity for young people who have been under institutional care, but also directly addresses the high demand for personnel in the services and tourism sectors of the southern region.
The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Francisco Candil, highlighted the initiative's dual benefits. On the one hand, it guarantees training and employment support for the participants. On the other, it helps fill vacancies in critical areas such as kitchen, dining room, and maintenance, injecting qualified and stable personnel into the region's economic engine. The Human Resources Director of RIU Hotels & Resorts, Carmelo González, described the integration of the young people as a "complete success." The model is attractive because it offers an employment contract from day one and, crucially, "real possibilities for internal promotion." This transforms the job opportunity into the promise of a stable professional career in the island's tourism sector.
The fifty young people are already integrated into various areas of the group's hotels, from room attendants to cleaning services.
The agreement with RIU complements a regional strategy that is yielding concrete results. Since its launch in January, the Urdimbre program has enabled: 477 young people to be hired through agreements with businesses in the Canary Islands, and 760 young people to receive training in various professional fields. A total of 1.237 people have benefited to date.
