Jumeirah Beach Hotel general manager Sven Wiedenhaupt commented that there are indications of a “salary bidding war” in the market, and Radisson Blu Hotels, Dubai Waterfront & Dubai Canal cluster general manager David Allan said that there seem to be a lot of people unhappy with what they have and are looking for something else. He shared an example: “We put a generic advert out for our hotel three months ago saying we’re going to be recruiting very soon. We got over 17,000 applications. We didn’t even put roles on the ad. 17,000 unsolicited applications, with over 80% from within Dubai.”
Hearteningly, 96% of our respondents said they had not received a pay cut.
Arora commented: “This is very much the case as hotels went through a minor downturn in last couple of years and GMs were pressured to sustain their GOPs compared to yester years. This has put in a lot of pressure to do away with many high costs and not increase any cost lines. As I mentioned before, we need to have a sustained succession plan for our star associates and ensure that we show them career growth. We can’t retain all associates in this scenario. We also need to have a constant supply of quality personnel from overseas as quality personnel within the city will not move for same salary or position.”
Thomas Fehlbier, general manager of Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara and area general manager of Minor Hotels Qatar, told Hotelier: “Any kind of cost factor on the island is a challenge. As for labour cost, our salaries are in line with the market although when compared to the UAE, we suffer a little bit in terms of the absence of service charge that supports the salaries. But it’s a bit more profitable for the hotelier.”
CAREER ASPIRATIONS
Confidence in the Middle East hotel employment market is rising, which is interesting to see. Last year, nearly 40% said they felt less secure than they did 12 months ago. This year, nearly 35% expressed the same sentiment, and while only 12.17% said they feel more secure, nearly 40% said they look forward to the future in their company with complete confidence.
What is being looked on at with confidence is companies that people want to work for. For the first time, Marriott International has topped the list, with nearly 50% of our surveyed respondents wanting to work for the behemoth operator. Last year, the company completed the acquisition of Starwood making it the owner of 30 brands worldwide — obviously a lucrative and interesting opportunity for hoteliers everywhere.
When contacted by Hotelier Middle East about this accolade, Marriott International president & CEO Middle East & Africa Alex Kyriakidis said: “We are delighted that Marriott International has been recognised in Hotelier’s Salary Survey as the best hotelier to work for and we are proud to receive recognition. Our commitment to ‘people’ is at the heart of everything we do and this result shows that our hotel teams continue to be true ambassadors to Marriott International.
“At Marriott International, our core values make us who we are, and as we integrate our teams, we will leverage our people-focused environment to our 65,000 associates across Middle East & Africa and remain focused on retaining and fostering talent.”
So it’s been all about talent, quality of life, training and retention — not vastly different to the issues we have faced before. The question is: what are hoteliers doing about it, to really address the issues that make hoteliers want to stay loyal?
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