Cancun, Q.R. — Despite efforts to hire qualified laborers, Cancun hotels remain understaffed by at least 13 percent. Jesús Almaguer Salazar, president of the Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association, says they have even gone to other states to recruit workers.
“We are multiplying the work load among the personnel that we do have in the hotels. With this, they are paid bonuses for the support they are giving to hotels, which has already reached an 80 percent occupancy rate,” he said.
Almaguer says the only thing they can do is continue with job fairs to recruit the staff they need, noting that hotel guests demand 100 percent of the services offered.
Since last year, the tourism industry has struggled to find qualified personnel. Before the start of the holiday season last year, job recruitment fairs were held by Quintana Roo companies in Mexico City and the Yucatan Peninsula. They have since been extended to Guadalajara and Monterrey.
The problem, Almaguer says, began after hotel job cuts due to the pandemic. When those trained employees lost their jobs, they returned home to their places of origin where they stayed.