Labor shortage solution—refugee services By Iain Woessner
The hospitality industry is suffering from a major labor shortage, and the workers that are available can lack skills, experience or even motivation. You may want to consider looking beyond job placement boards when looking for your next great employee. Refugee resettlement organizations, like the International Rescue Committee (IRC), prepare refugees to survive and thrive in the workforce. “The folks we work with are fully employment-authorized as soon as they step off the plane they are able to jump into work without any worries about the I-9 (Form),” Miriam Kasaika, economic empowerment coordinator for the organization, said. “Everyone we’re working with is really motivated to get going. The partnership really goes two ways.” Refugees passing through the program are prepared for the workforce, with some training programs specifically targeting skills of value to hospitality, Kasaika said. A partnership with Chipotle some years ago led to teaching burrito-making skills. A partnership with a local hotel ultimately informed the organization of the need to provide deeper housekeeping training, going so far as to train prospective employees on specific placement of lotions preferred by this hotel. “Most of our employer partners will send out a bulletin every week or month to say what positions are opening up,” Kasaika said. “We’ll use that as a guide and we’ll try and
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make those connections. So if we know there’s a high-end hotel … we’ll think about the folks we’re working with who have hospitality experience from back home.” Some Washington Hospitality Association members have already developed good rapport with the organization and report success with the employees they’ve taken on. “We have had great success with IRC over the past few years,” Brandon Martinez, director of operations for the Seattle Renaissance Hotel, said. “We find that in most cases the personnel we receive from IRC are really willing to work in any position in the hotel and are happy to have opportunities to start a career within this industry.” Martinez lauded the organization’s offering of on-thejob-skills through its Hospitality Link program to provide employees the skills they’d need to get a great start in hospitality. “We’ve employed personnel into housekeeping, stewarding, laundry, banquets, bellman, valet and food and beverage,” Martinez said. “We’ve seen most workers start at any entry-level position and then work their way to a promotion within six months to a year. The organization maintains relationships with employer partners and checks in on the employees matched up with local businesses, to ensure the placement continues to be beneficial to all parties.
