WICCI Hospitality & Tourism Council and Vedatya Institute join hands to understand the impact of the pandemic on women in the hospitality industry workforce.
WICCI Hospitality & Tourism Council and Vedatya Institute have collaborated on a new research project that builds an understanding of the impact of the pandemic on the employability of female workers at associate/line level job roles in India’s hospitality sector. The official commencement of the research study happened in July 2021.
The research’s main objective, as described by Ritu Chawla Mathur, VP for WICCI – Hospitality & Tourism Women Forum, is to gain deeper insights into the disadvantaged employment position of women post-pandemic.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the turbulence in the employment world at large, and especially for the Hospitality sector, it is critical to understand and collect statistical data on whether there is a gender-based skew in job losses, change in the age profiling of women leaving or staying back, the distribution of women across hotel functions and work level positions, in a pre and post-pandemic world.
Clearly, compared to men, women have additional responsibilities ranging from managing household chores to keeping up with their children’s online schooling, managing aging parents. It is therefore very easy for women to feel exhausted, burnt-out, or emotionally drained due to these added personal pressures from the changing circumstances created amidst the pandemic.
Another underlying objective of the research study is to uncover the challenges being faced by women in the workplace, the kind of support and solutions women are considering to pursue hospitality jobs/positions, and to be wooed back.
To collect statistics and data for the research, Dr. Anjana Singh, Head of School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Vedatya Institute, has created a short 5-minute survey and requests participation from women currently working in the hospitality industry or those who have been affected by the pandemic in any way.
Click on the following link to complete the survey- https://forms.gle/zfuBzi8RTKTgtBrV6
In October 2021, WICCI and Vedatya Institute also hosted two HR round table sessions on this topic. The panelists included Corporate HR leadership as well as unit HR heads and decision-makers from esteemed hospitality chains such as Taj Hotels, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotels, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, IHG Hotels & Resorts, etc. to share their thoughts and insights on this topic.
Taking the learning from the roundtable discussions and analyzing the survey results, Vedatya Institute, the academic partner for this research, will publish the final research study showcasing the current post-pandemic situation of women employment in Indian hospitality industry. The aim is to offer recommendations to the industry’s key stakeholders based on the outcomes of the joint project.
Expressing his thoughts on the collaboration, Sandeep Munjal, Director, Vedatya Institute, commented, “Women constitute an integral and defining segment of the hospitality industry workforce in India, it is critical to assess the impact that Covid may have had on them specifically and respond through any required actions such that Women continue to feel welcome and choose the sector for potential employment. The research project with WICCI should help us offer a well-informed perspective to do just that.”
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