People development is at the heart of IHG Hotels & Resorts hiring strategy, where it expects to create 7,000 new jobs this year across South East Asia – 2,500 in Thailand alone.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council[1], the global travel industry will add 126 million roles in the next decade – of which 65% or 76.9 million will be in Asia Pacific – as a result of a forecasted annual APAC Travel & Tourism GDP growth of 8.5%.
To attract the market’s best talent from inside and outside the industry, IHG has evolved its recruitment and retention strategy, and elevated the focus on people development, alongside enhancing other commitments including creating a strong and inclusive culture and providing flexible working conditions.
Rajit Sukumaran, Managing Director, South East Asia and Korea, IHG, said: “The hospitality industry has endured some of its toughest years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its reputation as a great place to work and build a career has understandably taken a hit. But, at IHG, as we continue through the recovery, we’re working hard to ensure people understand what a great future lies ahead for those within the industry.
“We know how highly candidates value working for a company with a strong culture and values, job stability as well as a true sense of purpose – and we agree with them. That’s why we’re providing people with the chance to build a career with us while enjoying a work-life balance and increasing learning and development opportunities. It’s all part of our people-orientated strategy that’s ensuring our colleagues love being part of the IHG team.
“Those joining us can be confident they will enjoy best-in-class training and access to global standards throughout all our operations. They will also enjoy a diverse and inclusive culture that celebrates difference and does purposeful work for our communities and planet – as part of our Journey to Tomorrow 10-year responsible business plan.”
Growth and development opportunities are consistently the number one reason that people have joined IHG, and the company is looking to increase the pace of its hiring to fill roles in the 100+ open hotels, and 90-strong pipeline, it has across South East Asia & Korea.
With this in mind, it has developed a series of programmes to support talent entering the industry including creating career pathways for aspiring hoteliers and a first-class approach to develop its people to drive creativity and performance.
The company has recently launched IHG Skills Academy, a world-class virtual training programme that offers free online education and courses in multiple languages for young people to become ‘employment ready’ and explore a career in hospitality. While across IHG, colleagues can benefit from IHG University its latest comprehensive offering that helps all colleagues find their path to building skills, knowledge and capabilities.
In Thailand, it partners universities and training centres to attract young aspiring hoteliers, organises career roadshows by region and uses Line to promote its open flexible roles across the country.
Sukumaran added: “We are first and foremost a people business and are always on the lookout for great talent with a passion for the work that we do. This includes people from a great variety of backgrounds, and we’re very keen to attract talent from outside of the hospitality industry as well as from within it. There are wonderful career pathways that people can choose to embark on based on their skillsets, preferences and personality, with opportunities to work across borders and provinces, across different brands and different functions, and every single one of our colleagues get on-the-job training from day one.
“We advocate a culture of mobility for our colleagues to ensure we have the right talent in the right roles with a clear succession plan. We’ve recently rolled out revolving hotel roles that enable colleagues to be seconded to conversions and new openings as part of our continued investment in our people. As an employer of choice, we will continue to strengthen our talent pipeline at all levels of the business, with a focus on attracting, building and retaining talent in all markets.”
IHG is actively recruiting for roles across its 33 hotels in Thailand in destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Khao Yai, Koh Samui, Pattaya and Phuket.
IHG is one of the world’s leading hotel companies with more than 6,000 hotels and 1,800 in the pipeline globally. In South East Asia and Korea, it operates in 10 countries with over 100 open hotels and 90 in the pipeline.
