Hotel expansions lead to job boom in small towns

The hospitality industry is now doing what the telecom, banking and BPO sectors had done a few years ago — sparking off a jobs boom in smaller towns.

As major hotel chains expand into Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, thousands of jobs have been created here since last quarter, say HR firms.

Ms Sangeetha Lala, Senior Vice-President and Co-founder, TeamLease Services, says since last quarter, hotels have stepped up their hiring across all levels for non-metro locations. Apart from pilgrimage destinations like Tirupati and Madurai, leisure and business travel have also increased in States like Kerala, Rajasthan and Gujarat, she says. At present, TeamLease has mandates for more than 150 general managers and thousands of lower-level staff only for Tier-II towns.

“Education levels in these towns have improved and with a few months of training, the available local talent can easily manage these properties,” points out Mr Richie Madan, Executive Director (Retail, BFSI, FMCG, Media and Travel & Hospitality practices) of recruitment process outsourcing firm Elixir Consulting.

Ms Lala agrees that talent from these locations is ‘trainable' and also come at 10-15 per cent lower cost than talent in larger cities. Mr Chander Baljee, Chairman and Managing Director, Royal Orchid Hotels, explains that training in terms of language, especially English, is a little more than what they would train people from Tier-I cities, apart from the regular skills training.

On the advantages of hiring local talent for these locations, he says people in Tier-II cities have lower aspiration and so are less demanding. “Candidates from Tier-I cities, because of better exposure, tend to hop between jobs, whereas those from Tier-II locations stick to jobs and are also more work conscious.”

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