Ministry of Culture Hosts '2020 Online Job Fair'
98 Companies Across 9 Sectors Participate
Five-Star Hotels Offer Rare Triple-Digit Hiring
Hyundai Department Store Duty Free, Only Duty Free Shop with New Recruitment
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The hotel recruitment market, which had shrunk due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), is now seeing signs of recovery. This is because several new 4- to 5-star luxury hotels are scheduled to open from the end of this year through early next year. Some 5-star hotels are planning rare triple-digit recruitment drives.
According to the industry on the 15th, the "2020 Tourism Industry Online Job Fair" hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will conclude on the 20th. A total of 98 tourism-related companies from nine sectors, including hotel resorts, travel, public institutions, tourism ventures, and casinos, are participating. These include The-K Jeju Hotel, which operates Ramada Plaza Jeju; Ramjeong Jeju Development of Jeju Shinhwa World; Mayfield Hotel of Mayfield Seoul; Ananti Group; Alpensia; Jeju Dream Tower; and Haevichi Hotel & Resort Jeju of Haevichi Hotel & Resort.
The most aggressive in new recruitment among single hotels is Shinsegae Chosun Hotel. The newly opened Grand Chosun Busan last month and the Grand Chosun Jeju, scheduled to open in January next year, will each recruit about 350 employees, totaling approximately 700. Shinsegae Chosun Hotel also opened the business hotel Four Points by Sheraton Seoul Myeongdong on the 30th. Next month, new hotels such as Chosun Palace in Gangnam and Gravity Pangyo Autograph Collection in Pangyo will be launched.
The Grand Hyatt Jeju will also be located in the Jeju Dream Tower complex resort, scheduled to open within the year. It will operate 1,600 rooms, making it the second-largest in room count among the 731 Hyatt Group hotels worldwide. They will recruit new employees across various fields, from room management to food and beverage, culinary, and web service support.
Kensington Hotel & Resort of E-Land Park is recruiting the first class of the Kensington Management Training Program (KMT) until the 20th, aiming to cultivate general managers within five years. A minimum of three years of experience in the hotel industry is a basic qualification. Successful candidates who pass a six-month probation period will be assigned to branches in early 2022 and will carry out individual projects for one to one and a half years. This systematizes the career recruitment system based on the existing internal training system.
Hyundai Department Store Duty Free, which closed applications for new employee recruitment on the 6th, is the only company in the duty-free industry to proceed with new hiring despite the industry's downturn. Hyundai Department Store Duty Free plans to recruit a double-digit number of employees across three departments: sales management, sales support, and management support. The final successful candidates will work in Seoul and Incheon.
An industry insider said, "Nowadays, triple-digit recruitment is considered surprising, but in the past, when a mega hotel opened, more than 1,000 people were recruited at once," adding, "It is true that due to facility advancement and technological development, the need for manpower in spaces of the same size has decreased compared to the past."
Meanwhile, the domestic hotel industry, which was severely hit by COVID-19 this year, underwent large-scale restructuring. Lotte Hotel implemented a voluntary retirement system in June for employees aged 58 and older who were subject to the wage peak system. It was the first voluntary retirement in 16 years since 2000, providing statutory retirement pay and consolation money based on years of service. Paradise City, operated by Paradise Segasami, a casino business and complex resort company, also accepted voluntary retirement applications in July from all employees with more than six months of service. Many hotels, including those in tourist districts such as Myeongdong, Seoul, closed their doors, and employees packed up. In February next year, the 5-star Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel in Banpo, Seoul, will also close.
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