Job security in tourism sector threatened due to grim occupancy levels
The human capital relying on the tourism sector for employment is currently in an unfavourable position with low occupancies in hotels across the country threatening their job security.
With significantly lower tourism arrivals and dampened sentiments of the public following the Easter Sunday incident having brought activities of leisure properties to an abrupt halt, stakeholders on the tourism industry said it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage costs relating to HR, leading them to take strong decisions.
Speaking on the impact on HR following the 21/4 event and incidents that followed, Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts Brand Marketing Head Dileep Mudadeniya shared that the hotels are exploring a number of options to manage costs and HR is a key component taken into account.
From an HR perspective, Mudadeniya said there is a need to increase the reliance on outsourcing and using unpaid vacations to reduce the labour force so the cost capacity can be reduced by requesting volunteers to take vacations during crisis.
While all hotels have halted new recruitment until there is an improvement in activities, he suggested that one could explore the option of reducing the number of working days per week to reduce the impact.
In addition to freezing pay rates, Mudadeniya said hotels could also look at laying off employees to reduce the labour force.
“However we don’t encourage this and we must together try and avoid this option as much as possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, in hot water are the students who are currently under training to cater to the country’s once booming tourism industry.
According to Tourism Industry Skills Council (TISC) Chairman Tony Packeer, immediately affected are about 1,500 students who would not be able to land any interning or employment opportunities given the current situation the industry is faced with.
“These students are affected as hotels either can’t employ them or are retrenching them. We are unable to get them work as hotels cannot absorb the allowance at this point of time, and they cannot be blamed,” he said.
Packeer opined that the industry should look at reaching out to donor agencies and look at sustaining the students for the future.
“If you have a trained steward and he goes overseas, we will lose him. We all have to ensure that they are kept for the future of tourism,” he noted.
Prior to the 21/4 attacks over 204,000 students were directly employed by the hotels, 11,000 in travel agencies, 7,000 in airlines, 2,100 in tourist shops, 7,150 as guides, and 2,900 by the state sector.
“All of them are now affected. It’s a cascading effect and marketing is a key. We need to ensure we market the destination and spread a positive message to the world about Sri Lanka and increase capacities,” he said.
Prior to the attacks, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 additional employees would be required each year to service the projected increases in visitor arrivals.