'We need people to work': Manitoba hotel industry experiencing labour shortage

Following years of struggle brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Manitoba hotel industry is experiencing a new issue – labour shortages.

“It’s not very often we would have an issue that would impact all our members…This one impacts all of our people. All of our hotels are in need of employees,” said Scott Jocelyn, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, in an interview on Wednesday.

To help attract new workers, the Manitoba Hotel Association has launched a new campaign with the goal of promoting the many job openings.

Jocelyn added there is a range of work opportunities at hotels that would suit people with various interests.

“Hotels are multi-use facilities. So they would have restaurants. They would have meeting and convention space. They have guest rooms. So pick your passion, were probably going to have an option for you,” he said.

Jocelyn said it will take a while for the hotel industry to recover from the pandemic, as it faced closures and restrictions, which also caused some workers to leave the sector.

He added that things are now starting to pick up again, but the industry is facing new issues.

“We’ve turned a corner. We’re moving back in the direction,” he said.

“Now it’s painful for us to hear we can be open full hours, we can be open at full capacity and we don’t have people to be able to work. So we need people to work, so we can go back to offering the great level of service that our customers are hoping to get when they come to our hotels.”

The federal and provincial governments provided funding for the campaign, which will be running through September.