And the most moribund economy in the EU is.... the UK. Hence there are fewer people coming to work here because there are more jobs at home. Round here the service economy is getting desperate for staff.
In the politest possible sense, do you really think
Oban is reflective of the wider Britsh economy in many ways? It's in one of the remotest parts of one of the whitest bits of the country. What you mean is that local hoteliers can no longer find gullible and desperate kids who will work for terrible wages while smiling. People are getting wise to the some of the more transient benefits of globalisation.