A hospitality brand plans to hire 5 to 12 bouncers across its outlets, including on Church Street.
Credit: DH Photo
Star hotels, clubs and restaurants across Bengaluru have begun hiring additional staff to handle the festive rush around Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The demand is largely for bouncers (including women bouncers), valet drivers, and service staff. In some instances, these temporary hires are being paid double the usual rates or more.
According to F&B owners, business rises by 20-35% in December. P C Rao, president of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association, says sourcing temporary staff is not a major challenge, as it is a routine year-end practice. With very few marriage events this month, nearly 10,000 ODC (outdoor catering) boys who would otherwise be engaged at Palace Grounds are available for work, he says. “College students, particularly from catering institutes, are also roped in for service roles,” he says.
Bouncer crunch
Security agencies say demand for bouncers is exceeding supply this season. One reason is the booming F&B business, with new pubs, restaurants and microbreweries opening beyond the city centre every month — in areas such as Yelahanka, Devanahalli, Hosur Road and Kanakapura Road.
Agencies are, thus, sourcing personnel from Mysuru, Udupi, and Hassan, and states like Telangana and Tamil Nadu. “There are fewer than 1,000 professional bouncers in Bengaluru. The outlets with two bouncers require as many as eight during this time,” says Raghul Chezhian, founder, Big Bruiser Bouncer, Vijayanagar. This December, he has been approached by a dozen F&B outlets seeking between eight and 20 bouncers each. “Pricing negotiations are going on. My bouncers are demanding Rs 500 more than last year, taking their fees to Rs 2,500-Rs 3,500. I need to meet their expectations too or they could move to other companies," he explains his dilemma.
Agencies are also fielding “unusual” requests for personal bouncers from couples. But James Y, founder of Koramangala-based The Wild Gunman, has declined all 50 requests he got. In an inebriated state, some clients abuse bouncers, he reasons. James works with a fixed clientele comprising two F&B outlets, and around 150 VVIP families. Many of thess families travel with bouncers during the holiday period, within India and abroad, to keep a watch on their children or valuables. Chezhian, too, declined one such request. While private gigs pay more (Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 for a night, compared with about Rs 3,000 for F&B security), they do not include tips, which can add up significantly at restaurants, he explains.
No personal driver
However, valet providers such as Alive Pulse Parking Services, Kamakshipalya, have seen a 40% increase in demand since November. Drivers are charging Rs 1,400-Rs 1,800 for four hours of work, up from the usual Rs 900. “Five restaurants have confirmed a requirement for 2-3 drivers for New Year’s Eve,” says a representative. But the agency has declined requests for personal drivers. “Clients often leave pubs late, which affects valet drivers’ earnings,” he adds.
Even Sridhar Reddy’s Jayanagar-based Tirumala Services is not providing drivers for personal chauffeuring. The decision follows last month’s robbery of an ATM cash van carrying money worth Rs 7.1 crore, in which the driver was found to have colluded with the perpetrators. However, the firm has bookings from about 30 hotels and restaurants, for five to 30 valet drivers each.
In contrast, Smartlens Parking Solutions, a J P Nagar-based agency tied up with about 40% of the city’s restaurants, bars, and hotels, has not seen the customary year-end surge of 10-20%. “I don’t know why, but we have received very few bookings,” says area manager Raju T N.
Exposure for students
Beyond Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the seasonal spike in footfalls is driven by corporate parties, tourism, and family outings involving NRI relatives. This is also the period of school and college breaks. All this fuels demand for extra hands for service. Most hires are for floor roles (moving food from the kitchen to the servers, clearing tables, overseeing catering) and managing entry points — not for kitchens and rarely for bars.
This month, Sachin Gowda, owner of Flairology Bar School and Events in Rajajinagar, received calls from 10-15 establishments seeking staff every weekend. He sends out current and former students, along with freelancers, for floor service and also bartending roles “because they are trained in the craft”. “But demand during Christmas and the year-end is difficult to meet,” he says. On Tuesday alone, he turned down requests from five hotels. Large outlets typically require 70-80 staff, he explains.
Chennais Amirta IIHM, a hotel management institute in R R Nagar, could not send students for Christmas owing to examinations but will do so for the New Year period. They usually send 200 students to F&B outlets in December; girls are sought for hostess roles and boys for service. “Where students are paid around Rs 700 per day in the off-season, they make Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 in restaurants and Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 in luxury hotels around this time,” says Immanuel Joseph, the institute’s south zone placement head.
Status check
In the off-season, Mannheim Craft Brewery, Whitefield, ropes in catering college students for service roles, citing their training and communication skills. However, Nirmal P V, its partner, says these students are harder to find in December because of holiday breaks. So they turn to ODC agencies but also students they have previously worked with. Last year, the outlet hired six bouncers and eight service staff. This year, with an expected footfall of 500, it plans to bring in 12-15 additional staff.
Crimson and Clover, which runs multiple outlets and an outdoor catering arm, plans to manage festive staffing by redeploying employees across locations. For security, it has flagged a requirement of five to 12 additional bouncers with its regular agencies, while valet numbers will be decided based on the number of bookings closer to the day.
Anirudh Kheny’s Keen Mustard Ventures will hire one female bouncer and three to four male bouncers at each of its six outlets to meet police requirements for enhanced safety. Such discussions and bookings typically begin about two weeks in advance, says the managing partner.
Slump after Goa fire tragedy?
According to Ananth Narayan, head of the Bengaluru chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India, the Goa nightclub fire tragedy earlier this month, which claimed 25 lives, has hit the city’s year-end pub scene. “We haven’t seen the usual 20-30% surge this season. The incident shook the nation,” he says.
Narayan adds that a long list of additional safety measures issued by the Bengaluru police in the aftermath could further affect New Year’s Eve business. “We have been told the entry into the CBD area (a major NYE hotspot) will be closed by 6 pm,” says Narayan, who owns four outlets on Brigade Road.
A liasoning manager working with Byg Ventures, which owns four brands, says police directive has also mandated 1 am closing time instead of 2 am last year, stricter limits on music volume, CCTV coverage with 30-day backups, and arrangements for extra drivers to escort inebriated patrons home.