Hotels and Hospitality in India
Working in Hotels
What jobs hotels create, why hospitality relies on service charges and tips, and the skills, pay and career paths in the industry.
Hotels are labour-intensive employers.
Jobs
- Front office and reservations.
- Housekeeping.
- Food and beverage: chefs, waiters and bartenders.
- Engineering and maintenance.
- Sales and events.
- Security.
Staffing levels
Luxury Indian hotels often have more than one staff member per room, higher than in many Western hotels.
Pay and tips
- Entry-level pay is often modest.
- Service charges and tips supplement income.
- In 2022, the Central Consumer Protection Authority said restaurants and hotels can’t add service charges automatically to bills; the Delhi High Court later upheld that service charges can’t be compulsory.
Skills and training
- Hotel management institutes, including IHMs.
- Apprenticeships.
- Career paths from trainee to manager.
Global opportunities
Indian hospitality workers are in demand in the Gulf, cruise ships and elsewhere.
Challenges
Long hours, shift work and high staff turnover.
The housekeeper
A housekeeper cleans 14 rooms per shift in a city hotel. She earns a basic salary plus a share of service charges, and hopes to become a supervisor.
Thinking hotels employ few people
They are labour-intensive, especially luxury hotels in India.
Key takeaways
- Hotels employ many workers across departments.
- Luxury Indian hotels have high staff-to-room ratios.
- Service charges can't be compulsory on bills.
- Hotel management institutes train workers.
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