TMS Asia-Pacific has stressed hospitality and tourism industry employees need to be on their toes as echoes of the ‘war for talent’ dogging so many of them in pre-GFC days once again begin to impact on the sector.

Speaking at Cornell Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management in Singapore last week CEO Andrew Chan said all the signs pointed to the first half of 2010 having proven fruitful for many of the company’s clients and new jobs in abundance.

But while things were looking up on the bottom line, not so the sector’s ever-tightening labour market which Mr Chan said was showing all the signs of a return to the talent-light environment reminiscent of 2007 and early 2008. And many employers were already starting to panic.

“Make no bones about it, the ‘war for talent’ that plagued the industry just two years ago has well and truly returned,” he said. “The question is did it really go away? The market has rebounded at a pace that has caught many off guard and they now find themselves heavily talent short as we enter the second half of 2010. Many employers have of late adopted a safety first mentality and being overly cautious with hiring decisions. In essence they have been adopting a wait and see mentality when hiring and then make the hiring decision when they critically need that person as opposed to pre-empting the hire in case this pick up in economy isn’t sustained. But we are once again seeing panic rearing its ugly head as organisations once again begin to find themselves in an environment where an over abundance of available jobs has once again started to outstrip the supply of appropriate candidates. This is not the time for complacency. The sector needs to address this renewed challenge and implement progressive HR strategies designed to both retain employees and attract candidates if we are to overcome this re-emerging issue.”