New report points towards signs of recovery
Staff hiring confidence returns to pre-pandemic levels
While the tourism and hospitality industry continues to feel the ripples emanating from the pandemic, a new report detailing salary and employment trends across the Asia-Pacific region reveals signs of recovery are slowly emerging, and cautious optimism returning.
Key statistics from the ACI Report 2022 show that retrenchments halved to 12 percent in 2021, compared to 24 percent in 2020, employee sentiments improved with 46 percent believing the worst is now behind them and hiring confidence has returned with 45 percent of HR and hiring managers expecting new headcounts in 2022, and at levels not seen since pre- pandemic.
However, the report, now in its 10th year, shows hiring managers are expecting a tougher time when they eventually recruit, with their top concerns being a lack of qualified candidates and challenges in finding the right talents.
They also face high competition for talents, the result of which will see salaries being driven up and as a further result, a need to increase budgets to accommodate these increases.
Add to this, work from home expectations of candidates may not align with their company’s return to office policies.
A total of 28,000 industry staff were invited to participate in the report with 820 responding, some 40 percent of which ACI founder and CEO, Andrew Mr Chan said were hotel employees.
Mr Chan said findings from the ACI Report 2022 show that Australia and New Zealand were examples of markets on the path of quick recovery until the Delta strain created a fast, big drop in demand.
Variations, he said, had existed in Australian states as rules would either change frequently, as in between the critical tourism border of NSW and QLD, or create large periods of depression as in VIC with its long lockdown periods.
But even if there had been CBD business at times across the year, 2021 had again been a year driven by regional travel and demand and it would not be until 2022 when inbound travel can return to some degree.
The ACI Report 2022 serves as a guide for employers, job seekers, HR professionals, and recruitment specialists by providing insights to prevailing job market conditions and hiring practices, especially in a global economy upended by COVID-19.
The full report can be downloaded at https://www.acihr.com/employers/salary-report
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
