By AVA TURNQUEST

and RICARDO WELLS

THOUSANDS of job seekers flocked to the Meliá Nassau Beach hotel hoping to land a job at the all-inclusive resort yesterday.

More than 2,000 hopefuls lined up from 6am to participate in a recruitment event for food and beverage positions, with hotel officials closing the event shortly after 1pm.

The large turnout shocked organisers, who said the recruitment event was only advertised on social media. The hotel is looking for servers, hostesses, bartenders and cooks.

In a press statement yesterday, Director of Human Resources Gabriela Samel said: “We are looking for talented, highly-skilled individuals with extensive food and beverage knowledge for our fine dining restaurants that are going to open very soon.”

She added: “We are excited by the number of candidates interested in being a part of this amazing resort. This demonstrates to us the great confidence that the public has in us and our commitment to providing a luxurious all-inclusive experience for our guests.”

The most recent Labour Force Survey, released by the Department of Statistics in July, revealed a slight increase in the overall number of employed persons and a reduction in the unemployment rate to 14.3 per cent from 15.4.

However, youth unemployment is at 28 per cent among those aged 15 to 24.

When The Tribune arrived, scores of young persons were visibly discouraged as hotel officials asked the crowd to disperse because the resort had exceeded its quota for applications that day.

The Tribune spoke with some of the job seekers.

“My number one goal here today was to find work,” Kylisa Johnson, 18, said. “I have been out of school for two and a half months and I can’t find a job.

“I am happy that Baha Mar has offered young people a chance like this, we need work and this is a chance.”

Megan Clark, 23, said she is “frustrated” about being unemployed and urged the government to find ways to create more employment opportunities.

“If we don’t have work what do they expect us to do? Yes, it is true that some young people leave high school and are not able to work because of their education level, but there are some of us that worked hard in school and are fully able to work,” she said.

JOBSEEKERS IN THE QUEUE HAVE THEIR SAY ABOUT EMPLOYMENT IN THE COUNTRY:

Kevin Curry Jr, 19

“Young are looked over constantly. We need work, we need jobs. The government needs to create jobs that are geared towards young people. They (government) should put tourism and hospitality programmes into schools if they are going to continue to steer the country into a tourism centric society. If we are allowed to work it will decrease crime and other problems related to crime in the country because we now have a chance to work and earn money.”

Kylisa Johnson 18

“My number one goal here today was to find work. I have been out of school two and a half months and I can’t find a job. They asked us to bring our resumes, and wait in line. I did this, I didn’t get an interview but I got my resume in. I am happy that Baha Mar has offered young people a chance like this, we need work and this is a chance.”

Michael Smith, 19

“It is tough, if you have the skills, they want the qualifications, if you have the qualifications, they want the experience. All we want is a chance to work.”

Megan Clark, 23

“If we don’t have work what do they expect us to do? Yes it is true that some young people leave high school and are not able to work because of their education level, but there are some of us that worked hard in school and are fully able to work.”

Ronaldo Collie, 30

“I just came out here to see what was going on. I have a job, but I just wanted to see what was going on. What is going on out here is sad, look at the people out here, these young people. They are hungry for work. If they wasn’t then you would have only had 200-300, it’s thousands. Where they want these people to go to find work? This is a problem, a huge problem. They all have there resumes, most of them are dress for an interview. This is really serious. Government have to do more fix this.”