Over 300 locals look for tourism work at job fair
(CNS): Hundreds of Caymanian and permanent resident job seekers attended the Tourism Job Fair last week at the Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort in the hope of securing work in the hospitality sector as visitors slowly begin returning to Cayman. While the pandemic is still creating uncertainty for the tourism sector, the larger employers are gradually remobilizing their workforce and had around 200 open positions on offer at the job fair.
Officials said 340 job seekers registered at the event, where positions in food and beverage, culinary and beach and pool service were on offer.
Organised by Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC), the Department and Ministry of Tourism and the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA), the Tourism Job Fair featured employers from across the tourism sector, including The Ritz-Carlton, The Westin, Kimpton Seafire, Marriott, Tukka East and West, ABACUS, Karoo, Grand Old House and The Wharf, Rum Point, the Parrot Sanctuary and others.
Job seekers had the chance to speak to and interview with employers at hotels and restaurants.
WORC, working in conjunction with CITA, has been actively matching Caymanian tourism workers displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic border closures with available jobs within the industry.
The PACT Government has also made the Caymianization of tourism and the placement of local people in these jobs a priority. Several members of Cabinet attended the job fair, including Premier Wayne Panton, Labour Minister Chris Saunders, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan and Social Development Minister André Ebanks.
“The PACT Government is committed to both returning our displaced hospitality industry workers to fulfilling jobs in tourism, and to the ongoing ‘Caymanianization’ of our tourism industry and product,” Saunders said.
“In addition to welcoming Caymanian hospitality workers returning to the field, we aim to work with tourism industry partners to create new job opportunities for Caymanians, including new graduates entering the workforce. We have clearly seen from the interest shown in this job fair that there are Caymanians ready, willing and able to work in the tourism sector,” he added.
Bryan said he was very pleased with the number of Caymanians who came out to the event and that there will be more events as the tourism sector regrows.
“As more visitors return and the industry grows, it will drive a corresponding need for more workers, so the plan is to host another job fair in the first quarter of next year to ensure that Caymanians continue to be considered first for all job opportunities,” he said.
“I am expecting that the next job fair will also include more administrative jobs as well as those that are more hospitality focused and my ministry will continue to work with stakeholders to make that a reality,” he added.
Watch a very brief video from the event below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
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- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Business, Jobs, Local News, Tourism
I applied. It was a position above me at my employer. I exceeded the requirements. My employer wanted someone else, from overseas. My application was not even reported to immigration. The work permit was granted. I complained. I was fired. There is plenty of reason not to apply for positions.
The three Cayman Islands have a total of 7,027 rooms available to accommodate tourist visiting the three Islands.
These visitors are made up primarily of three sectors in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Condos, Villas and Hotels.
Condos and Villas make up the largest category type of rooms with 4,310 rooms available that only provide a small number of administrative and house keeping jobs, while Hotels account for 2,717 rooms available and provide over 150 to 200 administrative, housekeeping and food & beverage jobs in each hotel
The number of Stay Over Tourist visiting doubled since 2010 from 288,000 visitors to 500,000 in 2019 which is approximately an additional amount of 73.6% or an additional 212,000 visitors per year, which equates to 17,666 visitors per month or 4,416 visitors per week and most visitors average age is 36 to 49 and usually stay on island for an average of one week
So with an additional 4,416 visitors a week in 2019 that are renting air bnb condos, and the average hotel housing 400 rooms, why aren’t we making an appeal to build more hotels and create more permanent jobs?
Its amazing how we always begin on a path of thinking about the future and keep coming up with briliant ideas only to drift off on trivial topics and development.
Everyone wants a hotel, apartment or a condo on seven mile beach, but no one has or is paying attention to the Master Ground Transpertation Plan, Vision 2008 or the Go East initiative.
Since the Vision 2008 and the Master Ground Transpertation plan, we have for once seen a sensible plan with the Go East Initiative.
It calls for over 14,000 new Hotel Rooms or 5,000 Apartements, Cottages or Bed n Breakfast on the 50% of undeveloped land locked property on the island that is still mostly owned by Caymanians
We have over 1,000 High School Graduates graduating each year with 70% to 80% seeking employment after graduation and our economy is not growing or creating long term permanent jobs.
In other words, with most of the worlds Baby Boomers of the 70’s & 80’s who invested, spent and built developments like hotels and businesses that created long term permanent jobs, are all now retired, not spending, not investing and not building businesses and hotels to create permanent jobs.
So we are all faced along with the other increased people around the world facing high unemployment and poverty according to the world bank, of what was increased from 88m to 124m over the past 10 years because high numbers of unemployment and opportunities being deminished, now face living poverty or long term unemployed
Our Department of Commerce & Investment only deal with issuing business license and collecting fees, where it should have been expanded to take on-board the responsiblity of the Master Ground Transpertation Plan, the Vision 2008 and the Go East Initaitive to attract investment or allow land lock property owners in North Side, East End and Cayman Brac to be able to access funding to build hotels, condos, a proper water attraction park and businesses in-land on the water with dredged canals from the North Sound like Dart did with Camana Bay, to create permanent jobs and give Seven Mile Beach a break on development
in other words, spread out the development and over development and stair the country on the path of low unemployment and prosperity
Lets face it, the mean reason we have so many stay-over visitors increasing year after year, is because they come to enjoy the sea and the sun and most of them usually return to buy a home or condo on the water or the beach
We already have the infrastructure in place, our air-port has been expanded to cope with 500,000 passengers a year, eventhough uncomfirmed news outlets advise that we have been processing 1,000,000 passengers a year during 2018 and 2019.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/theme-parks-are-built-for-density-disneyland-finally-reopens-but-its-now-make-or-break-for-the-industry-11619807321
I am so scared and worried for my Caymnanian children if they will be entering a job market controlled by the racist and discriminatory expats commenting on this post. I hope and pray that this Government will stop the decades of disenfranchisement perpetrated against us by the foreign elite (or think they are elite) and their “Caymanian” cronies who sold the rest of us out for generations to come.
Why do we have to continually fight against your repression in our own land? WE ARE NOT LESS THAN YOU! And we should not have to prove it in the face of your discrimination any longer. It worked in Canada and the USA with the Native Americans, it worked in Australia with the Aborigines, it worked (for a while) in South Africa with the Africans – but we will NO LONGER let you come here and decimate us. Go PACT!
If you have educated your children that they will succeed through hard work, been a good role model, and supported them through all their education opportunities, you have nothing to fear for them. There are many successful Caymanians excelling, but there are also many who have been let down by parents and educators, and themselves. Ask any Caymanian who has ‘made it’, they will usually have a story of how hard they had to work at the start. Don’t blame the messenger, or stick labels on the problem, turn up for work everyday, be on time, be enthusiastic, hardworking, and in almost every industry you, or your kids, will do well.
Bullshit. I tried that. I was destroyed in the local market after confronting openly unlawful conduct in the workplace, by foreign nationals. Unless and until our regulators do their jobs Caymanians (and any honest person who notices and tries to address issues) are at a distinct disadvantage.
Most people don’t react well to hatred. Even bosses and workers.
I do all of the above. And yet my people are still discriminated against in our own land. No one can outwork racism as long as it is tolerated. We have to put an end to the systematic discrimination of Caymanians that has been allowed for too long.
Wow, that’s some entitlement right there.
Most Caymanians have good jobs, and have solid careers. Some never bother to learn and develop the skills to earn those roles, then scream about repression when nobody hands them a 6 figure salary just for being Caymanian.
I’ve worked with Caymanians for years in watersports. None of them stay long. Mostly they move on to better paid jobs, because they have a massive advantage in the local job market and can easily earn more doing easier work in other industries.
Some others stop turning up, never work hard, and moan about how unfair life is, while all around then people are working hard to get by.
Good luck to all the hotels, restaurants, and water sports businesses. Your future here does not look too good.
Who wants to visit an island with no beach.
300 who will quit after a week of being asked to do real work….back to square 1.
What about the other 1,000 odd jobs they are seeking work permits for? Were they on offer for Caymanians? If not, why not?
Maybe because there not experienced or qualified? Did any one thing of that? I’m the real world people have to study for years and gain years of experience before landing a job but only in cayman are the government forcing employers to hire people simply because there caymanian even if there not qualified.
How do you know the prospective applicants are not qualified or experienced if you never let them know the jobs are even available?
Not experienced or qualified is a very subjective term. My wife applied for a job and was OPENLY told it was a permit renewal and they were just going through the motions. They were not interested in her experience or qualifications, (she has ten years and a degree related to the position). This is how brazen employers are now. She reported it, and you can guess what happened, she was sent the interview results (from WORC) which said ‘not suitable because of experience and qualifications’. She found employment elsewhere not related to her qualifications and is doing very well with similar pay to the job she applied for.
The nice end to the story is that the expat left because of covid travel restrictions and now the employer is struggling to fill the position with another expat.
Let’s all be honest here. PACT are forcing business to hire unemployable Caymanians so they don’t have to have a social system to keep giving them money. Instead of creating a divide between expats and caymanians why are they not asking the question why we have so many unemployable caymanians who have little to zero experience and lack the work ethic to make it through a 3 month probation. It’s not the businesses fault, it’s not the expats fault and it’s certainly not the hard working caymanians fault that they have to listen to the government baby sit a select few of unemployable caymanians. Instead of wasting millions on clown fool silly projects why not set up an apprentice program and work side by side with the business to mentor and train the caymanian youth. Stop the revolving door but don’t torture the people who work 16hrs a day as they are caymans bread and butter.
Welll..”Instead of creating a divide between expats and caymanians why are they not asking the question why we have so many unemployable caymanians who have little to zero experience and lack the work ethic..”
That’s 99percent garbage..the1percent unspoken has caused it all.. the greed of immigrants and locals alike in decision making posts, and badly eroded education and social systems.
Probably because there are no qualified caymanians, same as the accounting snd law jobs
What about true rest of the stipend recipients? Guess they were busy that day.
Everyone knows the truth but are too afraid to say it, since I’m leaving I don’t care. As a small business owner who’s created 150 or so jobs. I’ve not met one “local” who I’d even consider giving a job to. They are rude, miserable, lazy and a waste of time who I wouldn’t dream of letting anywhere near my business or customers. Best workers here are from the Philippines and Mexico. But don’t worry, you’ll get UBI aka a government job somewhere from a relative.
You know what I love about being a Caymanian arbitrageur. I know when I win and I know when I lost because my account balance goes up or down. It’s not prejudice, it doesn’t say I am lazy, it doesn’t lie, it isn’t self serving.
I hope you had an exit strategy, but your bitter so I am supposing you lost.
I am sorry for your loss but the market doesn’t lie- poor risk management.
Good luck in Mexico meng.
One way ticket I hope.. take the door knob with you.
Then you are looking in the wrong place. There are good Caymanians who want to work and work hard, but we are finding that many employers have become too happy paying a wage we can’t live on
If you have no job your earning zero SJ what have you to lose? . Even if you take a job on 4.50 and turn up on time, reliable, respect your customers and coworkers I can wholeheartedly guarantee you won’t be in 4.50 for much longer. You just have to stick at it and sadly, many don’t get past the 2nd pay check.
You over simplify. How do I pay a child sitter $10 and hour and go out to earn $4.50. Come on! I have run my own business for over 10 years and you think I deserve $4.50 simply because I was in the wrong business at the wrong time?? Sanctimonious much because of luck?
You carry in believing that theory. I have run my own business for years, just the wrong business at the wrong time. Now you want to offer me $4.50 an hour so you can benefit from my experience, while I have to pay a child sitter $10 an hour to look after my child? Come on. Snap out of your self righteous coma
Do not worry who ever you are. You will be back or I would hope not allowed back.
Contrary to your opinion there are many hard working, experienced and educated Caymanians in this country.
But while you sit on your high horse, looking down on the same people whose country allowed your pompous ass to earn a better living than you probably ever had elsewhere, remember there will be many willing to replace you. Good bye! Enjoy elsewhere and please do not even think about returning not even for a visit you pompous person.
Sssssh. All the most lucrative year round jobs are reserved for others. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Because this was only a job fair for hotels and restaurants. The other applications are for jobs in other industries. Remember, if you want a job and are suitably qualified, apply for it. Nothing is stopping you.
More chance of catching Covid
Yea yea Kenneth guess what! All the admin and managerial jobs have gone away because they all applied for work permits as usual we get the scraps while PACT celebrates a fake victory
Maybe the businesses just want to hire the best people?
Now let’s see what happens.
In this particular case, actions MUST speaker louder than words. Employers and Government,this is your chance to show these islands that you want locals working at your establishments.
Caymanians and those with the Certificate to live and work here MUST be your choice even if it means that you have to train each cohort from the bottom up.
No more excuses are accepted or will be tolerated.
This is your opportunity to shine as well.
Another way to say this would be – “Less than 10%” of the number of people currently getting the Tourism Stipend”
But I don’t expect to hear that. Big Up to the people at the fair but we have a bunch of people getting money for nothin.
A lot of the people getting the stipend already have jobs – no requirement to prove you havent been re-employed, or any means testing.
One recipient quit my place of work twice and then bragged after the second time that she’d rather watch movies all day than actually have to work.
Plus $500 Christmas bonus just to buy a few more votes
Good thing Wayne, Kenny, Chris and Andre went, they be looking jobs soon.