Hospitality Continues To Drive Cambodian Employment

With more than 1.5 million tourists visiting Cambodia during the first quarter of 2017, compared to 1.3 million during the same period in 2016, tourism in the Kingdom continues experiencing a fast and sustainable growth. As identified by the latest Career Report published by everjobs.com.kh, the fastest growing career platform in the country, tourism is not only contributing to the Kingdom’s economic growth, but it is also one of the leading industries when it comes to generation of employment. 

 More than 1,000 applications for waiter positions have been submitted through the everjobs Cambodia online careers portal since the start of 2015. “Together with textile, the tourism industry has been one of the key pillars of the Kingdom’s economy since the late 1990s, early 2000,” says Divotsna Jangir, business development manager at everjobs.com.kh. “Inevitably, that is also generating a higher demand of local talent to cover the hospitality needs of regional and international visitors.” 

According to the latest data released by the career platform, the hotel and lodging industry has been one of the top hiring industries over the past 3 years in Cambodia, with more than 5,400 vacancies posted on the portal since January 2015. Not only has hospitality been on the top of the list in terms of recruitment, but it has also been one of the most popular industries among job seekers, with over 17,000 job applications submitted during the same period. “The data gathered is showing us that there are certain positions, such as receptionist and waiter, that are more in demand by hospitality employers,” adds Divotsna. “More than 2,000 and 1,000 applications have been respectively submitted through our portal to both job categories since the beginning of 2015.” 

 It comes with no surprise that Cambodian job opportunities within the hotel and lodging industry are mainly located in cities that are already known for mass toruism such as Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, and Sihanoukville. According to Angkor Enterprise, the company in charge of ticket sales to the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap, the number of foreigners visiting the temples increased by nearly 13% during the first six months of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. Taking into consideration the increasing amount of tourists in Siem Reap, we can only expect that the city, which is second in hiring after Phnom Penh according to the everjobs report, will remain one of the main employment generating areas in the Kingdom.