Shortage of skilled manpower in hospitality sector: Stakeholders

Staff Reporter

Panaji 

Amidst surge in domestic tourist footfalls, hospitality industry stakeholders on Thursday emphasised huge shortage of skilled workforce in Goa, which presently is riding high in popularity as a holiday destination among other states.

Stakeholders pointed out that the state faces a shortage of trained manpower in culinary (kitchen), front office and food & beverage (F&B) jobs, which are the most labour intensive and where the skill-gap is the highest.

A panel discussion on ‘development of skills for the tourism sector’ at the Goa International Travel Mart (GITM 2024) disclosed that  Goa’s skill shortage in the tourism industry is because the trained youth from Goa are seeking overseas jobs and are the first to ditch an existing hotel job in the state. Panellists citing statistics said that 30,000 students graduate every year in India from various hotel management institutes, whereas the industry’s annual requirement is of 3.8 lakh graduates.

“The problem has been aggravated by the fact that a small percentage of graduates stick around in the hospitality industry due to the demanding nature of the profession,” said panellist Praveen Roy, associate director at EHL Advisory Services.  He said that Goa with its small population gets three times the number of tourists.

“The state is expanding very fast in the number of new restaurants and hotels which open each year,” Roy said.

Andres Omar Hayes, president & CEO, Airtifae Group, said that training the workforce to cope with the rush of tourists is the biggest challenge facing the hospitality industry today. 

Urging the youth to take up a career in hospitality, Hayes said the tourism industry is the most stable from an employee point of view and, “hospitality jobs will never go away”.

The discussion raised the issue of non-skilled workforce making inroads in the hospitality industry due to the shortage of trained manpower. 

“For a hotelier in Goa, it is very difficult to get trained applicants who know the local culture and are the best ambassadors of the state,” Roy said.

The discussion, which was also attended by prominent hotelier Ralph De Souza, tourism director and managing director of GTDC Suneel Anchipaka, assistant professor at IITTM Dr Kamakshi Maheshwari, concluded that ‘on-the-job’ training provided by hospitality establishments are the best for teaching youth hospitality skills instead of mega hotel management institutes.