ONTARIO, Canada – Barbadians employed in the Ministry of Labor’s Hotel Workers Program in Canada have received high marks from another employer.
General Manager of Taboo Resorts in Ontario, Randy Heyd has praised the work ethic and attitude of the Barbadians, noting that they performed so well last year that the hotel was on a recruitment drive here to employ more workers for the March to November 2007 season.
Taboo employs some 60 Barbadians out of a staff of 400 persons and the hotel is looking to bring on a further 30 workers for this year.
“Your workers are tremendous ambassadors for Barbados. They are hard working and quite diligent…and apply themselves in any area in which they work,” Mr. Heyd said.
He also revealed that some of the Barbadians who worked at the hotel last year did not arrive with requisite skills but worked assiduously to develop their competency in a number of areas.
“… but working at Taboo is much more than just skills, attitudes are an important part. The Barbadian workers displayed maturity and commitment and there was never a problem working with them”, added the General Manager.
Following a visit to several hotels involved in the program last year, Minister of Labor and the Civil Service, Rawle Eastmond said Barbadian employees had developed a very favorable and hard working reputation among employers.
He attributed this to Barbados’ focus on the tourism and hospitality industry, noting that this factor, in tandem with proper training opportunities had made the Barbadian hospitality worker a viable employment solution for overseas employers.
Mr. Eastmond also noted that the demand for local workers was so high that his Ministry was seeking to provide more training opportunities for Barbadians, to bolster the pool of trained persons in 2007.
