Studio stretched for staff

Yoga centre to open next month but faces talent shortage

Teaching the spirituality and relaxation of yoga is a great way to mix business with pleasure if you have the skill and vision.

While yoga is increasingly seen as big business in many cities around the world, there are only a handful of operators and yoga styles on offer in Macau.

Competition for qualified instructors in Hong Kong is fierce and about to get even more so with a major yoga studio opening in Macau.

Managing director of Universal Yoga Torey Lee-Farmer said recruitment of qualified yoga teaching staff was especially difficult.

Universal Yoga, which opens in Macau Square next month, will offer classes in English and Cantonese, ranging from hot yoga to hip-hop dancing, children's yoga and meditation, creating more than 50 vacancies for dance and yoga instructors and support staff.

'There are quite a few centres in Hong Kong and the competition for good instructors and customers is pretty fierce,' said Ms Lee-Farmer, who was involved in bringing California Fitness to Hong Kong and co-founded Planet Yoga in Hong Kong.

'There are limited people in Macau with these skills so we have had to look internationally for staff and Hong Kong is an obvious area for us to target.'

The 26,000 sqft centre will have five studios equipped with saunas, showers, lockers and a shop selling yoga clothing.

Running yoga classes is a relatively new business in Macau and is gaining attention because of strong market demand.

Pilates and aerobics have been the most popular forms of exercise classes, practised mainly by women.

Ms Lee-Farmer said yoga was popular among the growing expatriate population in Macau and was gaining recognition in the local community for its health benefits.

'There is not a great deal on offer in Macau and it is pretty clear that this place is opening up to the world and there are a lot of foreigners living here so it seemed like the obvious choice. From my experience, people in Macau are interested in yoga but there have not been any really great teachers who have stayed here long,' said Ms Lee-Farmer, who has been teaching fitness and yoga in Asia for more than 15 years.

Most of the classes at Universal Yoga will be for beginners as not many people in Macau have had too much exposure to yoga. The level of classes will improve with members' skill levels.

Ms Lee-Farmer said she had only employed about half the staff needed to run the centre, with many brought from Hong Kong.

She said yoga teachers were difficult to find, especially those who spoke Cantonese. Universal Yoga is also hiring reception, office and sales staff.

'There is great local talent in Macau for dance and aerobics but it is not really in the area of yoga,' she said.

'We have more local staff now than foreigners, but we are still looking for people with experience in this business and they are difficult to find in Macau due to competition from casinos.'

A lot of the dance and yoga classes being taught at the centre, including hot or Bikram yoga, have never been offered in Macau.

'Many people are interested in hot yoga as a way of slimming,' she said.

The majority signing up for membership with the company are expatriates and Chinese couples looking to improve their health and fitness.

Training is considered an important area of staff development at Universal Yoga. Ms Lee-Farmer said instructors and general staff would be trained in-house by specialised teachers, some of whom had been brought from India.

'Upper management will be doing the staff training in a range of different areas,' she said.

'We will be looking to continually improve our staff and we have two teachers, one with a PhD and the other with a master's degree to oversee the training.'

While competing against the gaming industry for staff has been difficult, Ms Lee-Farmer said there were many people who saw working in a yoga studio as 'more rewarding' than working in a casino.

'For some people this is far more attractive because of the environment,' she said.

'We have two salespeople working with us who actually refused to work in casinos, so it's clear that casino work is not for everyone.'

Ms Lee-Farmer said Universal Yoga was looking for staff with a particular outlook on life.

'Personality is a big thing in this industry and coming in with an open mind is vital,' she said.

'Our goal is to empower and inspire people to achieve their highest potential in all aspects - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual - so they may live a fuller, more complete, rewarding and richer life.'

High spirits

Universal Yoga's dance and yoga centre, with five studios, opens next month

Classes offered in yoga, belly dancing, jujitsu and Bollywood dancing. Openings for Cantonese speaking yoga instructors, office, sales and reception staff

Many staff brought from Hong Kong

Training will be conducted in-house by specialised teachers from India or upper management

Applicants must have a pleasant personality and an open mind