The Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council (THSC) recently released an insightful skill-gap report that sheds light on the skilling environment in the industry in India. The report says that an estimated additional three million workers will be required between 2025 and 2028 to cater to the growth in the hospitality and tourism sectors. According to the findings, while an estimated 5.8 million youth have expressed interest in being a part of our industry, a mere one percent have received any formal training at all. It is this gap that is of concern when one looks at the optimistic growth projections of almost all major industry players for the next few years. New hotels, unexplored travel destinations, record aircraft orders, and new brands are being announced at an aggressive pace. Where is the skilled workforce going to come from to service these ambitions? Even more critically, are we training them in the right skills that will be relevant and required in the future?
In today’s fast-changing business environment, traditional methods of education are fast becoming obsolete. Multiple surveys have shown that employers today place higher value on problem solving, fluency in written and verbal communication, customer interaction, people management, and numerical skills than on textbook learning. Educational institutes, therefore, must factor these into the curriculum.
Teaching through hands-on training, simulation of real-life scenarios, role-playing, and field trips will better equip students to excel as professionals in the future. The industry needs work-ready freshers who can hit the ground running in their first jobs. Given the vast spectrum of jobs available, hospitality aspirants need not necessarily rely on conventional degree or diploma courses to hone their skills. There are several competent skill development programmes available in the country today that quickly equip a youngster with the basic skills required to start their hospitality careers. These short-term courses may be more accessible to students who cannot afford regular college courses, while also accelerating their earning potential. At Kamaxi Skills, students can opt for the International Culinary Programme, the Global Bakery & Pastry Programme, or the F&B Service Associate Programme which are all of six-month duration and certified by THSC.
Given the variety of roles required to be performed for a hospitality business to run well, it is unlikely that any job functions will be made redundant in the foreseeable future. What is inevitable, though, is that the reliance on technology will increase. Whether the role is front-of-the-house or back-of-the-house, whether it is operational or strategic, the use of technology will be inevitable. Chefs today, for instance, use modern gadgets and equipment for the ease of preparation and consistency of output. Housekeepers rely on gadgets to increase the efficiency of cleaning and turnaround time. These are just two of the many roles where the adoption of technology may not be very apparent, but it is happening. What is likely to change with the use of technology, however, is the staffing ratios that were traditionally used in India. Where multiple personnel were required to perform a task in the past, technology today would enable just one trained staff member to be sufficient. Young hospitality students, therefore, must be introduced to technology from a very early stage of their education to be able to stay relevant and competitive.
The hospitality segment specifically accounts for a lion’s share of the workforce in the travel industry. Training in this sphere can potentially open doors for youth to move into allied sectors like aviation, retail, FMCG, or, indeed, any customer service roles. This, in part, is why the hospitality industry is finding it hard to attract and retain young talent within itself. While colleges churn out graduates who are oriented towards customer service, they are picked up just as fast by sectors that offer better remuneration, work-life balance, and a healthier work environment. Hospitality leaders need to introspect and course-correct on priority so that this talent drain can be stemmed.
