North Texas hotels are struggling to keep up with demand while facing a labor shortage

While airlines are grappling with the mounting pain of increased demand for fewer workers, hotels are facing similar problems.

While airlines are grappling with the mounting pain of increased demand for fewer workers, hotels are facing similar problems.

You can’t find new employees fast enough to meet vacationer’s needs.

There are currently 15,000 hospitality vacancies in North Texas.

Some hotels in the Dallas area are offering sign-up bonuses and pushing for referrals to keep up with the business expected this summer.

Grecia Mendiola, HR director of Hotel Zaza Dallas, said the hotel had around 100 employees before the pandemic. But she had to lay off almost half of them during the pandemic. Today the hotel is on the verge of catching up again.

“With business picking up again, we need housekeeping right now,” she said.

Omni Dallas HR Manager Dave Ricci has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

“The Omni Dallas had 900 employees before the pandemic,” he said. “Right now we’re in the 300s.”

The current labor shortage is hitting the hospitality industry hard.

Hotel Association of North Texas executive director Tracy Mayer says hotels will still have 30 to 45 percent fewer staff by the summer. Some may need to limit the number of rooms booked.

“There is only a limited number of rooms a hotel can provide with the current staffing levels,” she said.

Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas has just resumed face-to-face visits. It helps refer people looking for jobs to companies looking to hire.

Manager Enrique Rodriguez says he anticipates a large influx of candidates in Dallas County.

This weekend, Texas will officially end the federal government’s additional unemployment benefits.

“We anticipate there will be 50,000 more people receiving some type of benefit that they will not receive in the future,” said Rodriguez. “Stack that on top of the other 50,000 who were unemployed and looking.”

In the meantime, it’s been a tough balance for Omni Dallas to keep up with bookings.

“You can’t take care of it and then it won’t come and now we have no work for you,” said Ricci.

But they are all grateful that business is back.

“The employees will be back,” said Mayer. “This is just a very unusual and uncomfortable time for our industry.”

The Hotel Associations of North Texas hope a job fair this Thursday will kickstart applicants. It takes place from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. Open positions are all across the board.