By NICO SCAVELLA
Tribune Staff Reporter
nscavella@tribunemedia.net
OVER 1,500 people applied for and/or inquired about jobs with the once stalled Baha Mar mega resort yesterday, according to senior company officials, who said the numbers demonstrate that the company is making good on its promise to “generate a significant amount of jobs” in the country.
Robert Sands, senior vice-president of government and external affairs at Baha Mar, told The Tribune yesterday that the company’s website careers.bahamar.com and “social media and Facebook” saw over 1,000 applications and over 500 inquiries respectively as of 4.30pm, adding at the time that “the day is not over yet”.
With those figures, Baha Mar has made significant strides towards its goal of recruiting some 1,500 Bahamians in its first wave of hiring for the previously beleaguered resort in time for its April partial opening.
Notwithstanding the encouraging numbers, however, Mr Sands said only “selected persons” will be “invited to come in for follow-up interviews”.
On Sunday, Mr Sands announced that Baha Mar would begin the process of recruiting 1,500 Bahamians in its first wave of hiring for the Cable Beach resort. He told The Tribune the entire process will be conducted online through the company’s website. Interested persons were asked to visit the website and/or send their resumes to careers@bahamar.com.
At the time, Mr Sands said the resort is looking to initially fill positions at the golf course and the casino hotel ahead of its scheduled April 21 partial opening. However, he encouraged persons who are seeking jobs in other areas to “still apply” as “thousands more persons will be hired in the coming months”.
He also said the resort is looking for persons with a good attitude, who are ready to be trained.
When contacted yesterday for an update on the recruitment process, Mr Sands said: “Our numbers exceeded to the website over 1,000. Social media and Facebook page over 500 inquiries, and the day is not over yet.
“We don’t have any idea of what the amounts will be (at the end of the recruitment process), but we know they will be extremely large. But the more applications we get, the greater the opportunity we’ll have to make some very good selections. We believe that the enthusiasm of the applicants certainly demonstrates that Baha Mar is fulfilling its promise to generate a significant amount of jobs. And we’re hoping to make some very positive selections from the applications we receive.”
When asked what takes place after the recruitment process, which he said will be “ongoing,” Mr Sands said: “We’ll begin to process them, categorise them, and they’ll be reviewed certainly by our recruitment managers, and persons will be invited to come in for follow up interviews. Not everybody but selected persons.”
In an interview with The Tribune last week, Mr Sands said Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), the resort’s new owner, is dedicated to the success and timely opening of Baha Mar and CTFE was “very optimistic” that the April 21 opening date will be hit.
Last month, Prime Minister Perry Christie said CTFE “is arranging for operation by the Grand Hyatt of the casino and convention hotels and of other properties by SLS and Rosewood, all internationally renowned brands, beginning with a phased opening in the second quarter of 2017.
“The hirings are to facilitate the phased opening of 1,800 room at the conference and casino hotel, the casino, convention centre and golf course, and employment of up to 3,300 by August 2017, and 4,300 by December 2017, when all companies have been completed and opening,” the prime minister said.
CTFE will invest $200m in “pre-opening festivities, development of family amenities, entertainment and offshore island facilities and demolition and redevelopment of the former Crystal Palace Hotel,” Mr Christie said.
“With these additional investments completed, the project will have created 5,700 new direct jobs and an additional 4,160 indirect and inducted jobs.”
Comments
goodbyebahamas 7 years, 10 months ago
1,500 jobs...lol....what about the rest of the 48,000 unemployed? Christie trying to make himself look like a savor when he was the one who detoured the project for years in the first place. And now 1,500 jobs is all this stupid ass hotel will employ? The Bahamian people should do themselves a favor and elect a Jack Russell Terrier for their next Prime Minister, a well educated reliable dog will do a better job then Christie or Minnis any day.
banker 7 years, 10 months ago
Casino and golf course workers are being interviewed, and yet there are no major hotel operators announced. There are no partnerships. 96 days until opening, and no advertising campaigns have taken place. Izzy started advertising 2 years beforehand to build the brand that is now poisoned and tainted. This whole thing stinks to high heavens. Sands is calling it a soft opening. Are they going to employ some people for awhile and let the place be in limbo with no guests???
This doesn't sound like a sound business proposition. Is this a re-election ploy for optics until after the election?
Why aren't Tribune reporters asking these questions?
JohnBuchanan 7 years, 10 months ago
What about the people who had already been hired and trained, many of them leaving existing jobs at places like Atlantis to roll the dice on Baha Mar, only to be laid off? Since they were already trained, wouldn't it make more sense, and be more fair, to try to rehire them first?
Publius 7 years, 10 months ago
Their potential or known personal politics has to be checked first....
Emac 7 years, 10 months ago
Ha!
birdiestrachan 7 years, 10 months ago
Is the glass half full, or half empty.? I say it is half full and it is great for those who will find employment, Never mind the naysayers and those who suffer from the "Chicken Licken " syndrome. They will find fault and something wrong, no matter how great or how promising a situation may be. They are of the red party, you know.
Publius 7 years, 10 months ago
You were clearly born in an oxygen deprived room.
Emac 7 years, 10 months ago
She was clearly born depriving common sense.
goodbyebahamas 7 years, 10 months ago
I don't belong to none of your parties, but I don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out this project is going to fail big time; it already has, it will never make back what it's already lost.
Greentea 7 years, 10 months ago
Maybe they are advertising in China- but no matter- this whole thing sounds like an election bell is about to ring. Same ole sh^%t. That the people will fall for again. Same ole results.
John 7 years, 10 months ago
It is time to break the Bah Mar curse and get the place. Bahamians need jobs. This time the Chinese will have no excuses or blame the developer (Izmirilian). The operation is now 'everything Chinese." The financing Chinese. The Construction company Chinese. The Construction Workers Chinese. The Operators Chinese. Perry Christie Chinese. Look st him Good. PLP Chinese.
John 7 years, 10 months ago
But on a more serious note. Bah Mar is claiming they have 1,500 jobs for the first phased opening in April. Yet they claim only 1,500 persons applied and/or enquired about jobs. Does this mean that Bahamians has lost interest in Bah Mar? Is it a matter of fool me once shame on me fool me twice? The property under the right management and right branding has strong potential. The Hard Rock Casino in Florida hasn't stopped expanding for the past 6-8 years. More than double its original size.
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