EMPLOYMENT in Asia-Pacific’s travel and hospitality industry is expected to remain healthy this year, bucking the trend forecasted in most other sectors, according to a study conducted by ACI HR Solutions.
The ACI HR Solutions 2016 Travel and Hospitality Industry Salary and Employment Trends Report indicates that 44 per cent of hiring managers surveyed expected new headcounts in 2016, albeit with more modest volumes compared to previous years.
Andrew Chan, founder and CEO, ACI HR Solutions, said: “As in the previous surveys we have conducted since 2012, salary continues to be an important factor for candidates. A total of 41 per cent indicated they would need to see 11 to 22 per cent salary increase when considering a new job.”
He added: “Notwithstanding, the importance of career development was also similar to recent results with a total of 69 per cent of all respondents indicating that career progression was either ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’ and only five per cent saying career progression was unimportant.”
In a worrying trend, 30 per cent of respondents felt career prospects with their present employer were ‘poor’ or ‘zero’, compared to 26 per cent from last year’s survey. This percentage has been increasing for the third year running.
Compounding on this is 47 per cent of employed respondents indicating that they would change employers in 2016, with a further 12 per cent contemplating leaving the industry altogether.
And while 77 per cent of respondents indicated that they have received a pay increase in the past 12 months, it appears that salary gains in some countries are slowing, with Singaporean and Indonesian respondents experiencing a 15 per cent and 30 per cent decline in pay raise respectively.
Modest increments were seen in Thailand (12 per cent), Malaysia (8 per cent) and Hong Kong (4 per cent) in this year’s report, with the highest average annual salaries once again belonging to Macau (US$109,621) and Hong Kong (US$85,596). Indonesia posted the survey’s lowest average salary at US$44,492.
