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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 10

Publication Date: October 25, 2024

DOI:10.14738/assrj.1110.15564.

Francis, K. (2024). Effects of Covid-19 on Job Turnovers and Succession Plans in the Hospitality Industry in Kenya. Advances in Social

Sciences Research Journal, 11(10). 152-162.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Effects of Covid-19 on Job Turnovers and Succession Plans in the

Hospitality Industry in Kenya

Kabii Francis

Tourism Department Kenya Utalii College

INTRODUCTION

The short and medium-term effect of Covid -19 on human resources in the tourism and

hospitality industry is now a reality (Abonyi, 2021; Wood, & Kispál-Vitai, 2021; Akramova, &

Tadjieva, 2022). As many establishments struggle to recover from the devastating effects of the

pandemic on their business, the reality that has hit the HR managers is that they lost some

employees who today are difficult to replace. (Wordsworth, & Nilakant, (2021). Some

employees had talents, skills, and knowledge that had taken years to accumulate. Under normal

circumstances, establishments lose employees through voluntary resignation, death,

retirement, and other involuntary methods. (Simonetti, et al., 2022; Ahmed, & Jwmaa, 2023)

The Covid pandemic disrupted these natural ways and HR managers had to develop

mechanisms of recalling former employees and recruiting new ones to replace those that left

for better jobs. (Mokline, & Ben Abdallah 2022; Sarkar, & Clegg, 2021). Some employees have

left for other careers. Scanty research has been done in this area as many establishments are

still going through the disruption post-COVID-19 era. This is the gap the study intends to fill.

Research Problem

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the global tourism industry more than any other pandemic before

(Shih, 2021). Global travel came to a standstill as travel restrictions were witnessed all over the

world. Air transport, water, and land transport were only limited to essential travel either for

evacuations or other emergencies. With travel restrictions globally, accommodation sectors,

attractions sectors, and those that support the tourism business were grounded due to

cessations of travel from many countries, travel restrictions for citizens of the global village,

and travel advisories to those destinations that were affected by the virus Horaira, (2021).

These unpreceded interruptions of employees in the years 2020 and 2021 forced Human

Resource managers to implement radical survival strategies such as pay cuts, compulsory

leaves, dismissal of employees through redundancies clauses, and many other survival

strategies.

These interruptions did not spare those working in accommodation facilities. Orîndaru, et al.,

noted that many establishments implemented post-COVID-19 recovery strategies that have

seen the tourism and hospitality industry declare growth in terms of visitors' arrival, bed

occupancies, revenues, and relaxation of travel restrictions, lockdowns, and other measures

that restricted mobility. For the travel and tourism business to operate effectively, the different

establishments have used different strategies to recall their former employees to replace those

they lost during the pandemic. Ensuring that business continues with the least possible

disruption has become one of the main priorities after the pandemic.

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Francis, K. (2024). Effects of Covid-19 on Job Turnovers and Succession Plans in the Hospitality Industry in Kenya. Advances in Social Sciences

Research Journal, 11(10). 152-162.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.1110.15564

The pandemic also interrupted the succession plans in the tourism industry (Cave, & Dredge,

(2021). Succession planning is a process where employers prepare candidates from within the

business to take over critical leadership roles at the appropriate time (Martin, & O'Shea, 2021).

A lot of preparation is needed to ensure that vacancies are promptly filled by competent people,

mainly because their skills and experience were identified beforehand. Under normal

circumstances, business continuity becomes a proactive rather than reactive process with the

help of succession planning. This order was disrupted and businesses forced to adapt to the

new normal post-Covid -19 environment.

This study documents the strategies taken by hospitality and tourism establishments to retain

staff with, unique skills, talents that may have been lost during the COVID-19 period when most

accommodation facilities were closed. This study documents the post-Covid strategies used to

recall employees who were either on leave, those on contracts whose services had been

stopped, and those on permanent employment who were recalled when the business resumed.

Study Objectives

The specific objective of this will therefore be:

1. Examine the extent to which accommodation facilities in Kenya lost their talented and

skilled staff during the COVID-19 period and the strategies used to retain or replace

them.

2. Investigate the impact of COVID-19 on succession plans in the accommodation sector in

Kenya.

Study Hypothesis

The study hypothesized that:

• H0: The number of employees with unique skills and talents who did not come back after

the pandemic are the same as those that were recalled post the pandemic.

• Ha: The number of employees with unique skills and talents who did not come back after

the pandemic are different from those that were recalled post the pandemic

Significance of The Study to The Stakeholders

To the Training Institutions:

The finding will be important to those institutions that train tourism and hospitality programs.

This is because it will highlight skills and knowledge gaps that were created by the pandemic.

They can develop training programs such as refresher courses and other tailor-made programs

to address any gap that may arise. It will also recommend further study and curriculum reviews

where needed.

To the Accommodations Provider’s:

The findings will be shared with the accommodation providers, documenting the impacts of the

pandemics and the success of the recovery strategies adopted

To the Scholars and Academicians:

To the scholars and the academic world, the findings will be compared to what exists in the

body of knowledge and also contribute to the literature gaps from Kenya’s tourism industry

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 10, October-2024

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

LITERATURE REVIEW

Post Covid 19 Impacts on the Accommodation Sectors

The COVID-19 health crisis is an unprecedented shock that transformed the lives and

livelihoods of individuals around the globe (Sharma, 2021). Its effects extended beyond the

short-term, medium, and long-term as well. As COVID-19 started spreading, virtually all

countries around the world put in place containment and mitigation strategies involving

restrictions on movement. Gideon, (2021) found that among the most affected industry is the

tourism sector which relies heavily on people’s mobility. The tourism industry has come to a

halt as most accommodations, travel, and tours closed doors. It's evidence that the global

community lost most of its valued workforce due to job closures that were forced by travel

restrictions and lockdowns.

Then come the years 2021 and 2022, most of the companies that had released their valued

employees were again looking for them to hire. It is noted that many companies cannot find the

quality of employees they had before the Covid -19 as most of them continued with their lives

within the COVID period while others got similar or different jobs and are not willing to be re- employed. This is evident from the volume of online job postings requiring people to fill some

of the tourism and hospitality-related vacancies. The changing nature of work due to COVID-19

containment measures has led to an increase in job postings advertising requiring employees

to work from home (Vărzaru, Bocean, & Cazacu, 2021). This new trend comes with its

advantages and disadvantages for employers who physically supervise their employees and are

required to supervise and monitor them remotely as they work from home. Other jobs must be

completed in the office alone and not working remotely.

The COVID-19 crisis not only impacts the demand for jobs requiring lower qualifications but

also those talented jobs that may have taken years of training and long customer history and

relationships (Vărzaru, Bocean, & Cazacu,2021). The demand for workers in ‘front-line’ sectors,

or in those involved in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, is highly strong as

demonstrated by a growing number of jobs advertised. When looking at the underlying skills

mentioned in job postings, evidence from many countries shows a strong increase in the

demand for technical competencies and talents in both soft and hard skills. There has also been

a trend where international cruise ship recruiting companies have been reported in Kenya

(Sucheran, 2021). This causes a brain drain on the tourism and hospitality industry. These firms

are scouting for talented staff in tourism and hospitality careers pose more competition to the

local markets as their package looks more attractive as compared to job offers within Africa

(Meister, & Willyerd. 2021).

Yacoub, & ElHajjar, (2021) in their study found that despite many hospitality companies

advertising in search of these skills, most of them do not get the right persons. In cases where

they are found the cost of recruiting and retaining them is often higher than that of the

employees, the companies lost during the pandemic. The possibility of them leaving the

company is higher as their skills are sorted by many. This is affecting the short and long-term

operations of the accommodations, travel, and tourism sector which lost most of its frontline

employees due to the closure of its establishments. This is the trend in other sectors of the

global economy.