Recruitment required in the tourism industry

Recruitment required in the tourism industry

After two years at a standstill, Silk Sense Hoi An River Resort is now looking for staff in various positions, from sales and marketing to reception, housekeeping, and catering.

Tran Thai Do, the investor of Silk Sense, said that despite the closure, the resort still paid some key employee salaries to keep them in work after the pandemic. When the government gives the green light for the international tourism industry to fully open from March 15, Do plans to reopen, and human resources were the first important factor to help maintain the 5-star status of the resort.

“Most employees from tourism are now doing other jobs for a living, and many have no intention of returning. Tourism businesses currently have to recruit new people, but it is difficult because skilled personnel are no longer the same,” he said.

Along with recruitment, tourism businesses must offer better policies, clearer training and promotion plans, and especially where recruitment must be a potential base to work.

According to a survey carried out from November, 2021 till now by hotel recruitment website hoteljob.vn, the demand for recruiting personnel in the field of tourism and hospitality doubled compared to the beginning of February. Every day on the website there are more than 150 new job postings and more than 1000 applications for many different positions are entered.

This demand is forecasted to increase dramatically in March, when a series of large hotels and resorts prepare to reopen, especially in tourist centres such as Sapa, Halong, Hoi An, Dalat, and Phu Quoc.

“Hotels cannot be closed forever. It is important to know that people will want to travel again,” said Le Quoc Viet, director of Santa Vietnam Co. Ltd, the unit operating hoteljob.vn. “In order to welcome the summer tourist season, the units must conduct recruitment now to promptly strengthen before the end of April.”

Representatives of many tourism and hotel businesses at famous tourist destinations in Hoi An and Phu Quoc also complained about the serious shortage of personnel. According to Nguyen Vu Khac Huy, vice chairman of the Kien Giang Tourism Association, many hotels have had to mobilise receptionists, managers, or even leaders to help in restaurants and handle housekeeping during peak times.

“Currently, hotels and travel agencies are recruiting a lot but there are few candidates. International tourism will be open soon but there is a shortage of qualified personnel to serve foreign tourists. Businesses are very worried about this issue, so they are aggressively recruiting and training,” Huy said.

In Quang Nam, TUI Blue Southern Hoi An said that its initial staffing plan was 400 people. “With the current situation, TUI Blue Southern Hoi An only maintains 140-150 full-time employees. When the scale of operation resumes with a capacity of 30-50 per cent, the number will hopefully be doubled,” said Truong Thi Phuong Thao, head of Human Resources at TUI Blue Nam Hoi An.

The pandemic has caused tourism businesses to cut 80-90 per cent of their employees. In Danang, about 80 per cent, equivalent to 42,000 direct workers in the tourism industry and hundreds of thousands of indirect workers related to tourism, have been unemployed and switched to other occupations. Around 14,000 direct workers in the tourism industry in Quang Nam lost their jobs.

Nguyen Van Tai, director of VietSense Travel said that although they still retained key personnel during the pandemic period, this workforce is not enough to meet the increasing tourism demand.

“The company is in need of recruiting more because current staff can only meet 50-60 per cent of the market demand, not to mention handling the jobs that arise when guests go on tour. However, recruiting is quite difficult because of the lack of human resources. Many former salespeople or executives have settled into new jobs such as insurance or real estate consultants,” said Tai.