CRANSTON – As lawmakers fast-track changes to state unemployment benefits aimed at getting people back to work, the Rhode Island Hospitality Association is also working to help match employers with job applicants.
The association on Monday unveiled a new website specifically designed for industry members to post jobs and prospective workers to find them. The new “Rhode Island Hospitality Jobs” website replaces an existing online job board housed on the organization’s main website.
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In addition to job postings, the new site also offers tips for employers on how to attract applicants, encouraging them to think creatively and noting that “not all Millennials and Gen Z’s want avocado toast.” The new website highlights other RIHA services such as training programs for new workers and those looking to advance their skills and certifications, and a ready-made, adaptable “human resource toolkit” for employers.
“The goal is to make the whole job search much more robust and easy to do for employers and employees,” said Sarah Bratko, lobbyist for RIHA. “We wanted to bring everything together all in one place.”
The newly launched website, which featured nearly 50 postings, some for multiple positions on Monday, comes amid other efforts aimed at incentivizing people to get back to work and helping small businesses overcome the hiring woes reported across the nation.
Starting May 23, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training will reinstate its work-search requirement for those collecting unemployment benefits. Legislation that has passed in both chambers of the R.I. General Assembly also seeks to alleviate employment challenges by increasing the income workers can make while still qualifying for some unemployment benefits.
While businesses across industries have expressed frustration in filling open positions, those in hospitality have been particularly hard-hit as venues limited in operations and capacity attempt to hire back a full staff, as well as a summer, seasonal workforce.
Data from DLT corroborates this. As of March 2021, the state had regained about 59% of the 108,000 jobs lost during the pandemic. However, across the leisure and hospitality sector, jobs were still down 22.6%.
Workers in the hospitality industry also accounted for the highest percentage of unemployment benefit recipients – 21.8% of the 31,500 unemployment claims as of April 17. This does not include pandemic unemployment assistance, industry-specific data for which was not available.
“As our restaurants and hotels return to full capacity, many of our businesses are in need of reliable workers to meet the demand,” RIHA CEO and President Dale J. Venturini said in a statement. “For anyone looking for work in the industry, this tool will easily identify and filter open jobs based on search preferences, qualifications and availability.”
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
