Following last year’s soaring sentiment in the Middle East hotel job market, buoyed by burgeoning supply and a residual buzz from the Dubai Expo 2020 win, confidence levels in 2015 have plummeted.
The impact of the Russian visitor market decline, issues with the Euro, falling oil prices and political tensions in neighbouring countries have led 23.8% of participants to say they feel lesssecure than they did 12 months ago and the number of hoteliers that are anxious to keep their jobs is also on the rise
The Hotelier Middle East Salary Survey 2015 generated more responses than ever before, with 527 hoteliers completing it, compared to 489 last year.
In 2014, the region’s positive performance, and Dubai’s Expo 2020 win led hoteliers to question why the seeming success wasn’t being reflected in pay packets, and we concluded that a war for talent was set to begin as staff looked over the fence for better opportunities, while managers would have to up the stakes to keep their best staff.
In 2015, however, both employees and employers are feeling less secure in light of the current market uncertainty caused by a decline in Russian visitors since quarter four 2014, coupled with the instability of the euro impacting inbound visitor numbers to the dollar-driven GCC, and political unrest in neighbouring countries repelling visitors, who are opting for more peaceful locations.
“Hotels were performing very well in the first half of 2014, however the geopolitical issues in Eastern Europe and the falling euro has had an impact on performance levels. As a result, hoteliers are now looking at their expenses, while uncertainty remains on how long this will continue,” said Chris Hewett, associate director, TRI Consulting.
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The pressure on occupancy and ADR may be felt in staff pay packets, and on the whole, confidence levels are down. Just 13.5% of survey respondents said they feel more secure than they did 12 months ago, compared to 20.7% of respondents who said this last year.
Similarly, 23.8% of participants this year said they feel less secure than they did 12 months ago compared to 18.8% last year, and the number of hoteliers that are anxious to keep their jobs has increased to 11.1% compared to last year’s 4.6%.
Saying that, in 2014 2.3% said they had already been told they would be made redundant compared to just 0.5% this year, indicating that employees are aware that their employers are also feeling unsteady in the face of falling ADRs and occupancy, and are thus looking to hold on to their best talent.
Even hotels that have been faring well over the past few years are taking a conservative approach in 2015. Atlantis, The Palm for example, recently laid off 27 employees as a result of changes to staffing structure and ‘market dynamics’, Gulf News reported last month. And while 27 sackings were confirmed, a source told us that the figure was actually more in the region of 200.
A spokesperson from Atlantis, The Palm said that none of the front desk staff or those in direct contact with the guests, like waiters, bellhops, bartenders and the rest of the front-office personnel, were affected.
“We have revised our staffing structure by approximately 27 positions to streamline our operations and create additional efficiencies in response to evolving market dynamics,” said the spokesperson.
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