HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Guam’s food and beverage industry is in “desperate” need of employees, and other types of employers are also trying to fill positions as business restrictions are lifted and tourism gears up for reopening.
“Our industry is in desperate need of employees right now to meet demand from people who are now venturing back out after getting vaccinated or people who are just comfortable with the environment already,” Richard Hart, president and chief executive officer of Apple Pacific Restaurant Group, said on Tuesday.
Apple Pacific Restaurant Group will hold a job fair on Monday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. by the Guam Premier Outlets in Tamuning.
It’s mainly for LongHorn Steakhouse, which needs to fill at least 50 jobs, from kitchen staff to servers and bartenders, Hart said.
But Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Pieology and IHOP will also be looking to hire employees from the same job fair.
“The main reason of this job fair is clearly for LongHorn Steakhouse but we are going to have people on hand for Applebee’s, Pieology, Olive Garden and IHOP in the hopes we can get enough people to fix some needs at those restaurants as well,” Hart said.
Hart said Apple Pacific Restaurant Group would love to open IHOP again, “but we simply do not have staff and no one is coming out for food and beverage jobs at this time.”
But Monday’s job fair could change that, and Hart is calling on community members to check it out.
“Now is the time to come out, you can get your pick of jobs at any restaurant you like when in the past you get hired as a host then work your way up. Now you can jump right in,” Hart said.
LongHorn Steakhouse was supposed to hold its opening in 2020, but the pandemic pushed that back. A new opening date is tentatively set for May.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero is looking to reopen tourism if half or about 62,500 of Guam’s adult population is fully vaccinated by May 1, the Covid-19 Area Risk Score is below 2.5 and hospitalization is low.
Fully vaccinated
As of Monday, 46,918 adults had been fully vaccinated, based on Joint Information Center data.
Guam Department of Labor Director David Dell’Isola noted earlier that Guam is seeing a restoration of employment in some industries, in addition to construction.
Restaurants and many other businesses can now operate at a maximum capacity of 75%.
“The best way to get back to normal is to start acting normal, keep precautions in place and take the necessary steps to keep yourself and others safe but it is time to live again. Get out and try and new career in the food and beverage industry. There is a lot of money to be made and you never know, you might like it and make a career out of it,” Hart said.
Micronesia Mall also has current job openings for at least five security guards and applicants are encouraged to get in touch with the mall’s human resources department, according to Eric Salvador, Micronesia Mall operations manager and person in charge of the mall’s social media.
Pepsi Guam Bottling is also trying to hire employees to fill positions for accounting clerk, air-con technician, auxiliary operator, delivery driver, ice bagger, postmix technician, sales merchandiser and warehouse palletizer.
As of Tuesday, there had been a considerable response to these job announcements, Pepsi Guam Bottling’s human resources said.
For its part, the University of Guam is hosting a virtual job fair “for the whole community,” from 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday.
Register at https://url.uog.edu/JobFair21. Participants should be ready to network with employers and apply for jobs with their resume, cover letters, appropriate attire and stable internet connection.
The participating employers include:
Allegro Beverage Corporation
Cloverdale Foods
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Docomo Pacific
FBI Honolulu
Fresenius Kidney Care
G4S
GTA Teleguam
Guam Department of Education
Guam Police Department
Guamtemps Inc.
Joint Region Marianas Non-Appropriated Fund
KUAM News
MCS LLC
Providence Region
U.S. Department of State
U.S. Army
People stand in line or fill out applications at a job fair on April 14 in Tumon, Guam. More employees are now hiring as the tourism industry prepares to re-open.
Photo by David R. Castro/The Guam Daily Post
