Jumeirah employees on voluntary unpaid leave have saved the company close to AED 10 million (US $2.7 million) during Q1 this year, the Group’s HR boss has revealed.
Speaking during a Catererglobal.com-sponsored seminar at Arabian Travel Market today, Jumeirah group director of HR – resourcing and transformation Matthew Mee said: “It’s an ongoing process, so in Q1 we saved close to AED 10 million ($2.7 million).
“It’s amazing the take-up when you go to colleagues and ask them ‘are you interested in taking time off to help the company’ – not a forced process but a voluntary process – but people have done that, and so some people have taken leave and they’ll be coming back to the business,” he explained.
“I did it myself,” added Mee.
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts general and regional manager Dubai Thomas Tapken commended Jumeirah for guaranteeing job security.
“In our industries how often do we get to take a break of a month, two months in between jobs; we dream of it, you leave a job today and you have to start somewhere tomorrow so I think what Jumeirah did there was fantastic move,” said Tapken.
However, Tapken added that the biggest saving for all Dubai-based hoteliers at present was in the dramatic reduction in the cost of housing across the emirate.
“The biggest cost component of labour, especially in Dubai, was housing. I am opening up now and I need accommodation for 3000 employees within the next eight months; it’s cut in half, so our budgets are down by 50% in labour costs and we are not touching the salaries, we’ll leave it like it is.
“Benefits and entitlements will remain the same but the housing component came down by 50% – this is for all of us,” said Tapken.
He added that hoteliers should also use this time to renegotiate contracts for employee accommodation, dining and laundry services.
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May 8, 2009
the chap from movenpik got it slihtly wrong. Jumeirah made over 30% of corporate staff redundant......then replaced them with locals from another cvompnay....