If this positive trend continues, municipalities and local entrepreneurs could generate better revenues.
In order to maintain this flow of money, hotels must also find a solution to the second part of the puzzle – finding employees.
Tembo, Hadsall, and others told me that the shortage is mainly due to workers on leave not returning to their positions and a small whiff of a labor market saturated with available jobs.
“All along the line … the number of hotel jobs, I’m pretty sure they are all hiring right now,” said Hadsall.
A search on the employment website Indeed.com shows that there are at least 76 open hotel and lodging positions in Bloomington Normal.
“As we are one of the industries that has been hardest hit, we had to strive to meet the demand, but also tried to hire staff for three or four months,” said Tembo. “They’re trying to raise the pay – still nothing.”
In the meantime, Tembo has put in contract work for housekeeping and in some cases, “If you don’t have someone cleaning the room, all you have to do is let us have our own equipment to clean the rooms.”
Susana Pacheco, a housekeeper at the Hampton Inn in Bloomington, disinfects a remote control in a guest room during her shift Tuesday.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Tembo also said he was having trouble finding staff who could work in the hotel’s restaurant, bar and banquet facilities. He’s expanded a referral program that gives employees incentives like an extra $ 100, but that’s still not enough.
