Recruitment problems ahead says Four Seasons boss

The large number of redundancies following 11 September will lead to recruitment problems in 2002, according to John Strauss, regional vice president for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

Speaking at the International Recruitment Conference, held at the Dorchester hotel in London on Friday, Strauss said his company was estimating that recovery would begin in the third or fourth quarter of next year and had already written the recruitment programme that would refill necessary positions.

But, he said, every other hotel company would be trying to recruit large numbers of people at the same time causing significant problems.

"We're all going to have formidable recruitment tasks ahead of us," he said.

The Four Seasons hotel in Park Lane, London, has laid off a dozen staff since 11 September but had had a recruitment freeze in place since February in response to slowing economic conditions. It has lost 70-80 people using this natural attrition.

Stauss admitted that his estimates of when recovery would begin were purely speculative. "I'm optimistic we'll return to our former level of business, but I have no idea when." he said.