Emirates goes online in bid to hire 4,000
Emirates, the largest international airline, is advertising 4,000 cabin-crew jobs via online music provider Spotify as it strives to attract international staff for the world's biggest fleet of Airbus superjumbos.
Emirates needs to boost flight attendant numbers by a third to 16,000 during the year through March as it adds five double-deck, 517-seat A380s, for a total of 20. Ads on Facebook may follow as the Dubai company seeks English-speaking, tech-savvy recruits aged from 21 to 30.
With Qatar Airways and Abu Dhabi's Etihad also adding staff, Emirates aims to leverage its status as long-haul market leader to become the employer of choice among prospective cabin crew, akin to Apple in computing and Nike Inc. in sporting goods, advertising manager Sardar Khan said in an interview.
"We're growing rapidly and that presents a massive hiring challenge," Khan said. "Apple and Nike are aspirational brands and we like to think of ourselves as in that league. Your friends are going to think, wow, you're working for them?"
Apple rose three places to 17th in last year's 100-company Best Global Brands ranking from Interbrand, posting the biggest gain in recognition, while Nike advanced one spot to 25th.
Like other Gulf sheikdoms, Dubai is heavily reliant on foreign workers, who make up 90 percent of the 1.97 million population.
"I certainly don't think you'd have much in the way of UAE nationals," said John Strickland, an aviation analyst at JLS Consulting in London. "A flight I went on to Dubai in 2010 had British, Malaysians and Brazilians in the crew. Emirates offers a reasonable package. In terms of salary it's always said levels are lower than in Europe, but then there's less tax."
Emirates flight attendants start on a basic annual salary of about $12,800, plus hourly flying pay, a fixed monthly cash sum based on their role and competencies, free housing and transportation, and an annual payment from a profit- sharing plan. At British Airways the starting salary is about $25,000 a year, before supplementary sums.
The 30-second ad on Spotify matches songs with reasons to seek a job at Emirates, depicting the attractions of Dubai to a background of Black's "Wonderful Life" and the chance to work with multilingual crew to Sister Sledge's "We are Family."
Emirates hasn't given up more traditional hiring methods and will hold 77 recruitment fairs around the world through Nov. 5. English is the only linguistic prerequisite, though the carrier employs 130 nationalities speaking 80 languages.
Crew must also be educated to at least high-school level, be able to stretch 6 feet 11 inches on tiptoe to reach emergency gear, and have "the natural ability to provide excellent service working within a team environment, dealing with people from all cultures."
Online ad budgets are forecast to total $132.1 billion by 2015, almost double last year's $68.1 billion, and to comprise 22 percent of total media spending, according to eMarketer, a digital media and marketing research firm in New York.
"For Emirates, as a public-facing brand, being seen to experiment with these platforms is an intelligent move because it shows that they are willing to understand and connect with people on the topics they're interested in and in the places where they spend time," said Tim Callington, head of digital and social media at public relations firm Edelman.