Intercontinental Hotels Group has announced plans to recruit up to four thousand staff to back ambitious growth in Saudi Arabia over the coming years, with Generation Y Saudis being targeted.
IHG COO, Africa, Middle East and India Pascal Gauvin revealed that there are “very specific people planned for Saudi Arabia”, and that the company is focusing on attracting and retaining young talent, and those from Saudi Arabia in particular.
Gauvin commented: “We are a fantastic source of employment and in Saudi Arabia the government is really helping people to find jobs. Twenty years ago when we entered the market most probably all of the employees were from abroad. Today we have 7000 employees and more than 2500 are Saudi Arabia nationals – people that we’ve trained over the years who are now highly qualified.
“When you have people knocking on the door of your hotel to get employment, it is very rewarding. IHG is an attractive brand for Generation Y to join us and that’s great for us – we know we’ll have a great future.”
Intercontinental currently runs several IHG academies throughout Saudi Arabia, working in partnership with schools and colleges to recruit young talent into the company.
The group also ran a careers fair in Madinah last year that Gauvin describes as an “unbelievable success”, explaining that all qualified candidates that attended were offered employment.
Next year will mark Intercontinental Hotel Group’s fortieth year in Saudi Arabia. The company currently operates 24 hotels in the country totaling around 5800 rooms.
The next pipeline property to open its doors this year, is the Crowne Plaza Riyadh ITCC, which will be the only operating hotel in the developing business area of the city, and according to Gauvin, is set to provide a "fantastic opportunity" for attracting corporate visitors.
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