Casting the net wider
Source markets continue to evolve and offer new opportunities to recruiters. The bulk of the industry’s working population currently derives from India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, with Australia and South Africa also remaining firm favourites. However, the popularity of online job portals and developments in the global economy are revealing new source markets with reserves of untapped potential.
“More and more companies are looking at places like Vietnam, Indonesia and some of the more accessible Eastern European countries like Bulgaria and Serbia,” continues Hynes. “There, they can find the affordable staff they need with the right kind of working attitude required.”
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Also, it is likely that the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries will continue to grow as source markets for all industries. As their economic emergence gathers pace, they will be well-positioned to offer the dedicated, educated and talented employees of tomorrow.
Interestingly, the economic downturn has opened a window of opportunity for recruiters to poach talent from expensive source markets in Western Europe.
“We’re seeing more talented candidates coming to the Middle East from Western Europe willing to negotiate on contracts,” explains The Hospitality Company managing director Lynne Zarbhanelian. “For example, I’ve just been interviewing some candidates who had area responsibilities, but have been taken back to unit responsibilities in the current economic climate. So now they’ve come over here in an attempt to regain what they had before the recession hit.”
The sudden increase in high-quality candidates on the job market who are willing to be flexible over pay has created a unique opportunity for employers. Those that are financially able are finding it easier to recruit talented individuals — and specialist recruitment consultants are feeling the pinch. “We are now relying less on recruitment partners and external sources to provide candidates for roles,” says Mövenpick’s Cochrane. “The increased availability of candidates who are actively searching for jobs has enabled us to reduce our recruitment costs.”
Specialisation
In 2009, 16% of candidates applied directly to hospitality companies, whereas only 2% made direct applications in 2008. Consequently, applications through recruitment agencies have dropped from 14% to 10% in 2009. Recruitment consultancies have been forced to reposition their services in the current climate and offer more specialised solutions. For example, The Hospitality Company is well-positioned to offer a solution to the industry’s most persistent recruitment problem: the talent squeeze on middle management positions. According to Catererglobal.com, 54% of HR directors operating in the Middle East are experiencing retention difficulties for supervisory roles. Last year the figure stood at 42%
“There is a huge gap in middle management and hotels have always struggled in this area,” explains Zarbhanelian. “Recruitment consultants like us can leverage specialised networks with global reach to find the right candidate and reduce the man hours involved in this type of search.
It can take one person an entire week to interview and whittle the candidates down to the final three and with more candidates in the market, this can become expensive. Recruitment consultants can take all of that away and let the HR department invest their energies in other areas.”
As the dust settles on 2009, hoteliers must rethink their approach to recruitment for the year ahead — and those with the right strategy will discover fresh opportunities to capitalise on.
Useful Contacts:
Catererglobal.com
An online job portal recruiting for the high end of the hospitality industry.
Contact: Peter Willis on +44 207 769 9104 or
peter.willis@catererglobal.com
Website: www.catererglobal.com
The Hospitality Company
Specialises in recruiting middle managers for the hospitality industry.
Contact: Lynne on +971 4 885 2006 or lynne@hospitalitydubai.com
Website: www.hospitalitydubai.com
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