Show technicians leave Portugal for Dubai
Due to the evolution of the pandemic, many professionals in the event sector are finding themselves out of work.
Shows are not prohibited, but what is certain is that at this time of parties, Christmas and New Year, many of them ended up being cancelled.
Pedro Magalhães, president of the Portuguese Association of Technical Services for Events (APSTE), told Renaissance that losses are estimated “in excess of 30 million euros in this month of December alone”.
In view of the companies’ difficulties, Pedro Magalhães adds that “unfortunately during this period of the pandemic we lost a lot of manpower, which will be very difficult to recover, it is very special and, at least, it takes two years for us to have the people able to to work “.
The president of APSTE fears that after “the pandemic crisis, the sector will have a labor crisis”.
Pedro Magalhães revelation to Renaissance that “people have been running a lot for Expo Dubai, which is now on display, and we run the risk that these people will not return to Portugal”, because, adds the official, “they may be hired by other companies in the international market”.
Pedro Magalhães estimates that “between 150 and 200 people went to Expo Dubai”, including sound, lighting and video technicians.
Waiting for Government response
In the last hours, the president of the Portuguese Association of Technical Services for Events sent it to the Ministry of Economy according to the concerns of the sector.
Pedro Magalhães anticipates a 90% drop in work results for the first two months of 2022 and no business. The president of APSTE advises in Renaissance, that “if there is no change to the supports that are active at the moment, we foresee the closure of some companies and consequently the loss of jobs”.
He says that “the support in force is insufficient” and defends the suspension of payments of credits to the bank. This proposal, to extend the moratoriums, was presented to the Government in the last few hours, revelation Pedro Magalhães, who adds that “at this moment, companies have the obligation to settle their banking liabilities every month”, which proves to be a problem, because “Companies earn zero and will not have the conditions to fulfill their obligations”.
Pedro Magalhães believes that if the government manages to “intervene in this matter, the moratoriums, we believe that we can have some hope here, otherwise we will see some closures and some redundancies”.
The Government’s response was postponed until next week.