A Pandemic Upside Is Hotel Chains Are Being Forced to Address Management Bloat
Photo Credit: Palm Court Suite at Raffles Hotel Singapore. Accor Group
Skift Take
Covid-19 is the turning point for the hotel industry to unplug, simplify structures, and redesign roles, which can all make it more attractive to future talent.
Across the world, hotel chains are looking at some form of reorganization. To say it's because of the coronavirus crisis is simplistic.
In truth, the industry, which prided itself as a prodigious employer, is bloated and inefficient. That, in turn, is extremely costly and clunky. And chains are finally having to address the bloat squarely, as they can't afford it anymore with the pandemic decimating hotel revenues.
Accor Group, which lopped off the region layer and with it a number of top executives, is the most high-profile restructuring currently but worldwide, chains are taking a hard look at being lean and agile.
Unlike the snips and trims they made in past crises, which grew back like a starfish arm as soon as recovery resumed, this time it's different. Covid-19's extremity and lengthy road to recovery is causing a groundswell for change, one that will have a lasting impact on the future of hotel roles at corporate and hotel levels.
Chains are taking this as not just a
