Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Meet Boston held its annual Regional Career Fair on Wednesday at The Hyatt Regency Hotel, and with major tourism magnets around the corner for Boston, hospitality was in the spotlight.
Events like the FIFA World Cup, the nation's 250th anniversary and Sail Boston all looming closer, the job fair was geared toward making sure the city's service industry was fully staffed.
The fair comes years after a spike in demand for hospitality workers right after the pandemic. Some hiring and HR reps at the fair said that hiring need was still there, but the dire need had abated.
“It was vying with all the rest of Boston for all the same employees, at a time when there was a big exodus out of hospitality,” said Jherod from Sheraton Boston. “We’ve seen some relief in that regard, but there’s still a lot of searching for the individuals who are a match and a fit.”
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Former Boston city councilor and current owner of the Apex bar Tito Jackson said the fair was a success on his end, bringing in a few hundred interested applicants and curious bystanders.
He also talked about the culture of the hospitality industry, and that his business had success in flipping the script in the employer-employee dynamic to one that’s more staff-friendly and worker-first.
“This mentality that ‘you just work for us, and you do what we say,’ and the like is absolutely one that doesn’t work for the long term,” Jackson said.
Jackson said that attitude has helped him retain workers, where staff at other businesses had left the industry.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.