News that Shangri-La Pazhou Hotel in Guangzhou , which is scheduled to open in the next nine months, is going to hold a job fair this weekend to recruit 1000 employees has caused other hotels in the city to panic.

Local media report that some unnamed executives at other Guangzhou hotels say that they will continue to develop ways to retain their staff in the face of rising competition.

Currently, the hospitality industry in Guangzhou faces a serious shortage of trained staff. This shortage will become more apparent with the government's plan to increase the number of star-grade hotels from the current 203 to 300 by 2010.

The current turnover rate in the industry is 30%, and employees often say low salary and high stress are the two main reasons for the high job-hopping rate.

The monthly salary offered at a five-star hotel in Guangzhou is usually about RMB500 less than that in Shanghai.