123Pune.com

The consequence Retaining employees is becoming a huge problem in the city`s hospitality market.

In India, hospitality and tourism are the third largest net earners of foreign exchange and is expected to be numero uno by 2010. Hospitality is a 3.5 trillion dollar service sector within the global economy. According to a survey by HVS, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), 25-30 hotels are expected to be launched in Pune in next 3 years and these hotels will require 10,000 trained professionals by 2011.

The consequence retaining employees is becoming a huge problem in the city's hospitality market. Throwing light on the issue, Saurabh Shroff, Head marketing of myJobsinPune.com says, �The staff requirement for various hotels ranges between 1 to 3 persons per room, depending on the hotel category. This is regardless of the fact that technology is replacing manpower in operations, since hospitality is a service-oriented industry. The challenge for upcoming hotels in Pune, especially the upper end ones, is to find enough skilled professionals to maintain the level of service standards that regular international travelers are used to.�

The domestic hospitality industry is undergoing rapid transformation, with several hotel groups investing in new properties across India and the globe. Additionally, real estate players are entering the industry through management contracts with established hotel chains. This expansion in the hospitality business is taking place on account of the massive growth that India is likely to witness in the coming years.

To name a few, JW Marriott is also coming up with Courtyards, their budget segment in Pune by the end of 2008. Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd, owners of The Park Hotels, will be setting up a five star boutique hotel in Pune. The company has already acquired 90, 000 sq ft at Shivaji Nagar in Wakewadi near Pune. The new property with restaurants and entertainment facilities will be ready by 2010. The project cost is estimated at Rs3bn.

The city-based Sayaji Hotels Ltd. (SHL) has chalked out an ambitious plan of opening up of a three star hotel in Pune, Maharashtra and setting up of 100 'barbecue nations' across the country. It has invested Rs1.35bn for opening up of 50 rooms three star hotel in Pune which is almost ready and it will be opened by December this year.

Many others have undertaken hotel project in Pune, which is humming up with industrial activities.

Quote from Avijit Chaturvedi, V.P. Operations, The �O� Hotel, �Hospitality industry, specially the high end Hotel segment derives value from the quality of service that can be provided consistently. Well-trained staff with the right attitude thus becomes the most important resource, as the vehicle, that would deliver the desired quality service. With the number of Hotels growing by leaps and bounds and other service industries like telecom, retail and BPOs looking at the Hospitality graduates for their recruitment, finding and retaining quality staff has become a big challenge.�

�In short term the growth in number of vacancies will outstrip the growth in trained manpower by a wide margin. The fight will be to get a bigger slice of �the pie� to ensure optimum trained staff for the hotel. The Hotels/chains that create the right �employer branding� would attract the best talent and a bigger slice of the human resource pie. The O Hotel with its strong training and motivation practices definitely hopes to be among the more sought after employers in the years to come� states Chaturvedi.

In June this year, S.P. Jain Foundation Trust in collaboration with The Pride Group of Hotels has set-up Pride Institute of Hospitality & Business Management (PIHM) in Pune, with a mission to offer quality education to students who wish to choose hospitality as a serious career option.

According to CRISIL Research, each year around 10,500 graduates come out of the 25 Institutes of Hotel Management (IHMs) and 150 private institutions in the country. Apart from the 5-star category, the 3-star and 4-star categories also compete for this pool of graduates. The research firm projects that by 2011-12 when at least 30,000 rooms are added to the current stock, around 54,000 employees would be required in the premium segment alone.

The demand from a rapidly expanding hospitality industry in India and abroad, a limited pool of qualified and well-trained staff to choose from, not to speak of the demand generated by the mushrooming of Indian restaurants abroad, has resulted in a severe shortage of expert hands, whether chefs, F&B managers, house-keeping personnel and HR staff. Manpower shortage is the most serious issue facing the Indian hotel industry currently.

From the database analyzed at Pune's leading job portal, www.myJobsinpune.com, the shortage of skilled workers would impact the overall service levels across hotels in India. The steady rise in salaries also meant that India did not necessarily have the advantage of low labour costs that it had a few years ago. In this background, the compensation earned by hotel staff has also grown by around 20% in the past two years.

Shroff of myJobsinPune.com adds, Many of the upcoming hotels in Pune will be sourcing for talent across the country if they don't find the talent locally. We are planning on targeted campaigns to help various players in the industry, find as many skilled professionals locally as possible.
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