The Caterer Middle East Bar & Nightlife Forum brought together bar managers and F&B directors to address the most pressing issues in the industry
More than 100 bar managers and F&B directors attended the Caterer Middle East Bar & Nightlife Forum on October 7 at Grosvenor House Dubai.
The event brought to light some of the key issues concerning the industry, including recruitment challenges, increasing competition, and diversity. Kicking off the event, Gates Hospitality CEO Naim Maddad revealed that more than 200 new bars and club concepts were due to come online in the region in the next 18 months, including several home-grown brands.
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The growing number of outlets also means the industry needs to recruit the right people, as Whissle’s group bars manager Thomas Gillgren pointed out: “The nightlife industry is growing so quickly. With people coming over, you’ve got to make sure they stay in Dubai because quality is important.
Dubai needs to show that the hospitality industry here is terrific, it’s not just a playground, it’s a serious business. You need the right experience because Dubai has been seen as a playground — with all the restaurants, bars and hotels opening here.”
Employee Issues
Staff retention and recruitment remains one of the key challenges the industry continues to struggle with; Frioul Bistro de Luxe beverage manager Angus McGregor commented: “Dubai has always struggled getting a good workforce out here. What I feel is that they are failing badly in terms of how current staff in the market are being treated.
We find ourselves more and more looking outside of Dubai to source staff. As Dubai expands, we need a larger pool of people, but at the same time we are neglecting the people we have right here, right now.”
It was a sentiment echoed by other panellists speaking during the session, including GQ Bar assistant manager Sam Bailey, who commented on how the recruitment contracts are drawn up.
“What we forget is that 90% of the western bartenders we are trying to recruit are coming from part-time or full-time casual contracts, hourly paid. For them to come here on a fixed, two-year contract that they’re going to pay their way out of, if they choose to leave, is a scary concept for people,” he explained.
McGregor also pointed to racial discrimination when it comes to recruiting staff for the industry, with more bars preferring to hire “white faces”, which doesn’t necessarily guarantee better skills.
“There’s plenty of good talent here. We’re getting into, dare I say it, a bit of a racist outlook. We’re now seeing a lot of people looking for white faces. They’re willing to pay three times more; and I say this from first-hand experience, many of these people coming from Europe have certainly no better skills.”
He further reiterated his point when discussing career progression in the industry, explaining the attitude when it came to promoting some of these staff.
To counter this problem, Bailey suggested a “standard minimum wage across the board for hotel bars and private venues”, along with plans for career development to tackle the problem of staff moving to different bars when offered a minimal pay raise.
“If employers are promoting the right people and they see the chance to grow in a company, that would aid in stopping the bounce around in staff,” he said.
Media One Hotel Dubai’s director of F&B Felix Hartmann also commented on how the city was losing its appeal for those looking to enter the bar and nightlife industry: “In 2006 everyone wanted to come to Dubai. In the last years, the reality has reached out to the world about what the salaries, the packages and the accommodation are.”
Omnia by Silvena operations manager Motorga Heathcliff agreed, adding: “Some of them lose patience very fast.”
Adding to this, the panellists also lamented the lack of recognition for bartenders, and how it added to the challenge of recruiting in the nightlife industry.
“Twenty years ago, being a chef was not a glamorous career. With the rise of the Gordon Ramsays and Jamie Olivers, a lot of people can legitimately say it is a profession. If you are a chef and specialise in Asian cuisine, that’s perfectly acceptable. It seems like you cannot have a niche in the bar trade. One thing that is difficult is that it follows trends too much,” McGregor stated.
“There are people who spend hours at home creating, and pushing their way forward to try and do something for the industry, and they don’t really get any better recognition than those just working in a pub,” he added.
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