hospitalitybiz.org

The Hunter and Central Coast region of New South is one of the first sites for a new employment and training program being launched by the hotel and accommodation industry to ease the growing staff shortage crisis.

The Hotel Motel and Accommodation Association (HMAA) is officially launching its new ‘Best Way Inn’ program in the area later this month.

HMAA’s national affairs manager, Peter Olah, said the new program was aimed at alleviating a “looming” shortage of qualified staff to work in local hotels, resorts, motels, and bed and breakfasts by opening the door to accommodation industry employment to jobseekers.

“The national shortage of skills and labour is starting to hit tourism and accommodation businesses, which of course rely heavily on their staff to deliver the highest standards of service to their customers,” Olah said. “It is a very big problem and we have to find ways to alleviate it or it is going to become a disaster.”

Olah said that the program would involve job seekers being matched to businesses looking for the right employees through targeted pre-employment training. This training is aimed squarely at shortages within the housekeeping departments of local accommodation businesses and will be conducted on site at hotels and resorts so candidates receive ‘real world’ experience.

It will focus on encouraging and training job seekers including parents returning to work, mature age people, the long termed unemployed and indigenous Australians.

Following the roll out of the program in the Hunter and Central Coast region, HMAA intend to grow it state-wide and then national across a variety of different skill areas.