Hotels rehiring old employees

Hotels rehiring old employees

Milton.Lawrence@timesgroup.com

24.11.2020

Mysuru: For Lokesh, life appears to have come full circle. Like many of his colleagues in the hospitality business in Mysuru, Lokesh, who has over 20 years of experience, was laid off when the lockdown was imposed in March. It was the beginning of a very difficult time for him and he had to relocate four of his family members to his hometown to make ends meet.

Now that things are returning to normal, he has been rehired by the same restaurant where he worked.

Like Lokesh, many others in the industry in Mysuru are being rehired — albeit at a lower pay scale — now that the sector, which took a severe beating due to the lockdown, is finding its feet again. Occupancy rates in hotels have risen to 40%, while some restaurants are seeing 70-75% customers.

C Narayanagowda, president, hoteliers’ association, Mysuru, says many employees were dismissed and some establishments even shut down for good. “Times are still uncertain, but we are hoping things will get better soon,” he said. “About 25,000 people are directly or indirectly dependent on the industry in Mysuru.”

Lava KG, F&B manager at a popular restaurant, revealed business has picked up to about 70% of what it was during pre-Covid times, while MD Harish Kumar Hegde, proprietor, Hotel Airlines and Shubhodini Convention Hall, said, “Despite the lockdown we didn’t lay off any of our employees or cut their salaries. The economy is showing signs of revival with room occupancy rising to 40% from zero during the lockdown.”

Many in the hospitality industry in Mysuru are being rehired — albeit at a lower pay scale — now that the sector is finding its feet again