AccorHotels is gearing up to meet the employment challenges that will come with the largest hotel development boom in Australia and New Zealand for two decades.
The addition of over 130 new-build hotels for the hospitality industry in the next five years will see a vast increase in demand for skilled labour, resulting in a major challenge for hotel groups to attract and retain top talent.
AccorHotels currently employs over 10,000 employees across Australia, and anticipates it will require a further 2,000 staff to meet the needs of its own development pipeline of 14 major new-build hotel projects.
The situation is even more pressing for AccorHotels across the wider Asia-Pacific region, with up to 10,000 new employees required to fill roles in new and existing hotels over the next three years.
Ten years ago, the group had more than 120 hotels and resorts and inventory of some 18,499 rooms. Since then more than 100 new hotels and nearly 12,000 rooms have been added, creating thousands of job opportunities in the industry.
“The next five years will see a vast battle for talent within the Australian hotel industry. We not only have to increase our numbers, but increase the skill levels if we are to meet the 5-star service standards that will be required in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” said chief operating officer, Simon McGrath.
“As the company expands there will be considerable career and mobility opportunities for current staff, and AccorHotels recognised some time ago the imperatives of ‘growing our own’ by establishing its own registered training organisation, as well as introducing programs to substantially increase the number of women in senior leadership roles and significantly develop our level of indigenous talent.
“Developing senior management positions that can enhance service and performance standards will be critical, and we are committed to growing not only hotel general managers but also the top five high performing executives in each hotel.”
The company has also set ambitious targets to increase its number of women in senior leadership and executive positions, from 27 per cent to 50 per cent by 2018.
“AccorHotels is also very focused on finding and developing new talent to fill new roles, and we believe that with our regime of training and development programs, and strong commitment to diversity that we will attract a new breed of hospitality professionals over the next five years,” McGrath said.
