During the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism human resources were forced to disperse to other industries. Now, domestic tourism has flourished with the good news that Vietnam has reopened to welcome international visitors. However, the majority of employees have settled into their new jobs, while those who still want to stay in the industry are still hesitant to return because they are worried that the epidemic will continue to develop unpredictably. Join Travellive to listen to the opinions of experts, managers of travel agencies and restaurants - hotels sharing around the issue of "businesses' expectations of tourism human resources in the new normal period".

Currently, with a strategy of safe adaptation and increased vaccine coverage, tourism businesses across the country are eagerly preparing to welcome visitors back. The happiest are probably tour guides and hotel and restaurant staff after two long years of being "suspended".

Luu Chan Huy (27 years old, International Tour Guide) feels very happy to have led many tourist groups since the Lunar New Year. With extensive experience and fluent English and Chinese, Luu Chan Huy hopes to soon return to international tours when Vietnam reopens tourism in mid-March. When the epidemic broke out in Ho Chi Minh City, he took the opportunity to set up a TikTok channel and create content about tourism to keep the passion for the profession alive, while also selling regional specialties online to earn extra income.

Lam Ngoc My (25 years old, International Tour Guide) was forced to change jobs to stabilize her life. My started a new journey as a Quality Analyst for a technology company in Malaysia. Used to traveling freely, now having to sit in the office all day was a real challenge for My. But after a year, My adapted and devoted a lot to the new job.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Dac Tai (28 years old) was forced to leave his job as a receptionist at a luxury hotel in Da Nang after four years. Tai switched to a job as a resort apartment consultant at a prestigious real estate corporation in Ho Chi Minh City. Thanks to his neat appearance and skillful communication skills, Dac Tai quickly stabilized and advanced in his new job.

These are just a few of the many cases that have lost their jobs or taken unpaid leave and switched to other jobs due to the pandemic. They do many jobs from online sales, financial and insurance consulting, technology driving, agricultural farming, etc. to maintain their personal income and support their family's economy.

In early 2022, tourism will fully reopen with the goal of economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, creating great opportunities for both businesses and the workforce to return to their jobs. However, many employees have adapted and settled into new jobs in other industries. For businesses to be able to find and restructure their human resources appropriately, especially high-quality resources in the current period, is truly a difficult problem.

From a travel management perspective, businessman Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, said that his company specializes in welcoming international guests to use high-end services when coming to Vietnam. After two years of the pandemic, many employees have quit their jobs because they cannot adapt to the constant changes from many different tourist markets, from international to domestic. There are employees who feel more interested in the new job than tourism, so it will be difficult to convince them to return to the business.

After each wave of Covid-19, his business has had more difficulty recruiting. Almost all departments are short of staff. Particularly veteran tour guides who are fluent in foreign languages ​​and understand the tastes of high-end international tourist markets are very difficult to recruit again. Partly because the modest number have now moved to other jobs, and some have died in the pandemic.

From his experience as the organizer of a forum connecting more than 2,500 students and recent graduates of tourism management with businesses, Mr. Vu Nguyen Minh Tri, Chairman of the Tourism Human Resources Forum, shared that the Covid-19 pandemic is like a "restart" button that brings everything almost back to the starting point. The period when the bigger the business, the less likely it is to fail has passed. Many large businesses are struggling during the pandemic and are forced to cut all their staff, only retaining a few key positions. By 2022, businesses are still worried about the epidemic situation, plus the lack of finance, so they do not dare to recruit fully, if they do, they only prioritize high-quality staff who can do a lot of work.

According to MSc. Nguyen Phuong Ngoc, currently an author at the Hotel Briefing Blog community and holding the position of PR Manager at Regent Phu Quoc, the unpredictable and prolonged pandemic has made it very difficult for businesses to plan their staffing levels. Many human resources departments in the restaurant and hotel industry have had their incomes cut. Some places have even laid off employees and closed. This situation could still occur in 2022, even when the tourism industry is showing signs of recovery.

“The restaurant and hotel industry has been heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and businesses cannot fully recruit staff. The current situation forces businesses to recruit high-quality staff, who must really know how to do and do more work well. On the contrary, workers' behavior has also changed, they care more about the safety, security and hygiene provisions of a business. Therefore, businesses need to think more and be more flexible in their recruitment and human resource management policies,” said Ms. Ngoc.

When the fourth wave of Covid-19 broke out fiercely in 2021, many businesses could not afford to pay salaries and bonuses for high-level positions for foreign personnel and forced them to leave. This opened up promotion opportunities for Vietnamese personnel. There were high-level positions that, before the pandemic, always gave priority to foreigners, but now, Vietnamese people can take advantage of the opportunity to take on and demonstrate their capacity. In this situation, the biggest advantage of Vietnamese personnel is their sharp and clear understanding of the local market, shared MSc. Nguyen Phuong Ngoc.

Up to now, the stable control of the epidemic has led to an increase in recruitment demand in the restaurant and hotel industry. A number of senior employees have the need to return to work, creating fierce competition with those working in the industry and the young generation of workers who have just graduated. At this time, the advantage is on the side of businesses, when with the same amount of money they can choose to recruit skilled people compared to those who have no or little experience.

Businessman Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, added that the behavior of domestic and international tourists has changed a lot, not as mass as before. Tourists focus mainly on the private experience of the trip, specifically the journey of discovering "body, mind and wisdom". Therefore, the company is forced to have authentic and unique products, meeting the needs of tourists as closely as possible. Therefore, businesses need to have a more professional staff, flexible attitude and experience to truly understand customers.

Mr. Vu Nguyen Minh Tri, Chairman of the Tourism Human Resources Forum, said that the difficulty for human resources is the generation of students who have just graduated. In the past, they only practiced their profession online, without the opportunity to rub shoulders with the real environment. Therefore, when they graduate, they are forced to accept low salaries, not hesitate and start the probationary journey again to accumulate professional experience for the long-term future ahead.

The emergence of the epidemic and the rapid development of digital technology require human resources to be creative, adaptive, and at the same time build plans to improve their own value. In addition to professional expertise, tourism personnel also need to understand and diligently accumulate knowledge about politics, socio-economics and culture, so that they can grasp and understand the psychology of high-end customer segments, colleagues and partners.

Nowadays, many employees are proactive in building their personal brand and approaching employers and senior partners with a professional resume on the LinkedIn platform. Or, some employees choose to join the KOL community.(Key Opinion Leader)and KOC(Key Opinion Consumer)on many social networking platforms to expand income sources and relationships, instead of just submitting CVs when looking for jobs through manual recruitment channels like before the pandemic.

Finally, experts have agreed that the pandemic is a short-term problem compared to the long history of tourism development. When everything stabilizes, the tourism industry will also get back on track to recover, possibly even faster than expected. Therefore, the demand for tourism human resources will always exist and attract those who are adaptable, innovative in thinking and have a dedicated attitude towards their chosen profession.