shortfall

According to the Future of Work in Travel and Tourism report from the World Travel and Tourism Council, the world is facing a huge shortage in people working in the industry by 2035

The world is facing a 43 million worker shortfall by 2035 that could spell chaos for holidaymakers if not addressed.

Many of the world’s biggest holiday economies, including Japan, Greece and China, will require millions more workers to keep their tourism industries afloat.

Ageing populations and a desire not to work in low-skilled jobs will see labour supply slump to 16% below demand levels in ten years’ time, according to the Future of Work in Travel and Tourism report from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

There will be a forecast shortfall of 20.1 million people required for low-skilled roles, with deficits projected across all 20 economies. China (16.9 million), India (11.0 million) and the EU (6.4 million) will be hardest hit. In relative terms, the economies projected to face the largest shortfalls are Japan, with labour supply at 29% below demand, Greece (27% below), and Germany (26% below).

Since the Covid pandemic, a number of countries have struggled to fill vacancies, with many tourism workers leaving the industry when hotels and resorts shut down to stop the virus’s spread. The shortfall has already led to price rises.

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All-inclusive family package holidays from the UK jumped in price for some of the most popular destinations, including Spain, Cyprus and Turkey over the past year. The average price for a week in Cyprus in August went up by 23%, from £950 per person to £1,166, the TravelSupermarket show reported in July.

While there are multiple factors at play including the rising cost of plane fuel, a shortage of workers in key countries is contributing. La Tribuna de Ciudad Real reported that almost half of the vacancies in Spanish bars and hotels remained unfilled in 2024. Unfilled vancancies reached 80,000 in Greece in May, the Guardian reported.

Gina Fleming, senior director of Learning and Development at Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, said: “Recruiting chefs is so competitive as many cruise companies have elevated the food experience to meet guests’ higher expectations. There is a high demand for culinary skills and roles like Junior Sous-Chef. We are partnering with chef schools to build a pipeline.”

Tourism has been booming worldwide in the post-Covid years. In 2024, the sector supported a record 357 million jobs worldwide and is forecast to support 371 million this year. Over the next decade, travel and tourism is projected to generate 91 million new roles, accounting for one in every three net new jobs created globally.

However, by 2035, global demand for workers in travel and tourism will outpace supply by more than 43 million people, leaving labour availability 16% below required levels.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC Interim CEO, said: “Travel & Tourism is set to remain one of the world’s biggest job creators, offering opportunities for millions of people worldwide. But we must also recognise that wider demographic and structural changes are reshaping labour markets everywhere. Many workers left the sector during Covid when travel and tourism came to a standstill. Now, as global unemployment is expected to fall and working-age populations to shrink, this is creating increased pressure on labour supply, especially for fast-growing sectors like Travel & Tourism.

“This report is a call to action. By working together with governments and educators, our sector will meet these challenges and continue to be one of the most rewarding sectors, offering dynamic futures for the next generations. WTTC will work with government officials around the world to ensure policies are implemented to reduce this gap and unlock the potential in their countries.”

Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia, added: “By 2035, one in three new jobs will come from Travel & Tourism — no other sector can claim that. Saudi Arabia shows what vision and investment can achieve, with over 649,000 training opportunities, and a workforce that is nearly 50% women.”

An independent commission of inquiry investigating violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory has warned it cannot continue its work.

Severe funding shortages are derailing the body established by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in 2021.

The United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year. Still, it continues to owe about $1.5bn in outstanding fees to the UN.

What, then, is the impact on this commission in the face of rapidly increasing Israeli settler violence and the illegal expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank?

Presenter:

James Bays

Guests:

Andrew Gilmour – Former UN assistant secretary-general for human rights

Sari Bashi – Human rights lawyer and founder of Gisha, an Israeli human rights organisation

William Schabas – Professor of international law at Middlesex University and a former chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict

California is facing an additional $12-billion state budget shortfall next year, a deficit largely caused by overspending and that Gov. Gavin Newsom said was made worse by President Trump’s federal tariff policy.

“California is under assault,” Newsom said. “The United States of America, in many respects, is under assault because we have a president that’s been reckless.”

Newsom unveiled the forecast during a presentation Wednesday of his $321.9-billion revised spending plan that proposes walking back free healthcare for low-income undocumented immigrants, eliminating Medi-Cal benefits for expensive weight loss treatments and cutting back overtime hours for in-home supportive service workers, among dozens of other trims.

The new deficit comes in addition to $27.3 billion in fiscal remedies, including $16.1 billion in cuts and a $7.1-billion withdrawal from the state’s rainy day fund, that lawmakers and the governor already agreed to make in 2025-26.

The overall $39-billion shortfall marks the third year in a row that Newsom and lawmakers have been forced to reduce funding for state programs after dedicating more money than California has available to spend.

Newsom’s proposed cuts

Among the new cuts Newsom put on the table Wednesday is a call to cut back on his signature policy to provide free healthcare coverage to income-eligible undocumented immigrants.

Newsom is proposing freezing new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented adult immigrants as of Jan. 1 and requiring those over 18 to pay $100 monthly premiums to receive healthcare coverage through Medi-Cal.

The cost share will reduce the financial burden on the state and could lower the total number of people enrolled in the healthcare program if some immigrants cannot afford the new premiums. Freezing enrollment may prevent the price tag of the program from continuing to balloon after more people signed up for coverage than the state anticipated.

The changes offer minor savings of $116.5 million next year, with savings growing to $5.4 billion in 2028-29.

The governor is also following the federal government’s lead and cutting $85 million in benefits for Ozempic and other popular weight loss medications from all Medi-Cal coverage plans, while saving $333.3 million by eliminating long-term care benefits for some enrollees.

Newsom wants to cap overtime hours for in-home support service workers, according to his budget, to save $707.5 million next year.

The governor’s budget includes a controversial proposal to grab $1.3 billion in funding in 2025-26 from Proposition 35, a measure voters approved in November that dedicated the revenue from a tax on managed care organizations to primarily pay for increases to Medi-Cal provider rates. The decision is expected to draw pushback from a coalition of doctors, clinics, hospitals and other healthcare groups that supported the proposition, which nearly 68% of voters backed.

Under another cost-saving measure, the governor wants to shift $1.5 billion in funding for Cal Fire from the general fund. Instead, Newsom wants to provide that $1.5 billion from the greenhouse gas reduction fund paid for by proceeds of the state cap-and-trade program next year.

The governor’s budget proposes extending the cap-and-trade program — a first-of-its-kind initiative that sets limits on companies’ greenhouse gas emissions and allows them to buy additional credits at auction from the state, and he wants to dedicate at least $1 billion each year to high speed rail.

A spending deficit

The budget marks a continuation of years of overspending in California under the Newsom administration.

After predicting a lofty $100-billion surplus from federal COVID-19 stimulus funding and the resulting economic gains three years ago, Democrats have not reduced spending to match up with a return to normal after the pandemic.

Poor projections, the ballooning cost of Democratic policy promises and a reluctance to make long-term sweeping cuts have added to the deficit at a time when the governor regularly touts California’s place as the fourth largest economy in the world.

State revenues have exceeded expectations since April, but so has state spending.

Despite the shortfall, California has more money to spend than in the prior budget approved in June, and the governor and lawmakers still plan to take $7.1 billion from the state’s rainy day fund to cover the total 2025-26 deficit.

A “Trump Slump”

Though personal income tax and corporate tax receipts in the state came in $6.8 billion above projections through April, Newsom is predicting that overall revenues will be $16 billion lower than they could have been from January 2025 through June 2026 because of the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs.

The governor originally released the new information, which his team dubbed the “Trump Slump,” on the eve of the presentation of his revised 2025-26 state budget plan, seeking to blame the president for California’s expected revenue shortfall.

Trump in April implemented a series of tariffs on all imported goods, higher taxes on products from Mexico, Canada and China, and specific levies on products and materials such as autos and aluminum. The president has backed down from some of his tariffs, but Newsom alleges that the policies and economic uncertainty will lead to higher unemployment, inflation, lower GDP projections and less capital gains revenue for California.

California filed a lawsuit last month arguing that Trump lacks the authority to impose tariffs on his own. On Tuesday, the state said it will seek a preliminary injunction to freeze the tariffs in federal court.