The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the hospitality sector harder than any other, costing 7.7 million workers and 47 percent of hospitality professionals their jobs.
Now, a new initiative called 'Project Save Hospitality' is being launched, which is aimed at raising awareness among recruiters and HR professionals as to just how readily hospitality workers' multitude of skills can transfer over to other industries.
Founders Melissa DelBuono and Kingsley Egbuchunam, both laid off from positions in the hotel industry themselves, realized that many of their peers won't have jobs to come back to, even after the sector starts rebounding, with a full recovery being probably years away. And, those who are fortunate enough to keep or return to their jobs during this difficult time are likely to do so with reduced pay.
As DelBuono and Egbuchunam began speaking with employers outside of the hospitality sphere, it became clear that they hadn't realized the multitude of valuable skills that hospitality workers possess and just how easily those might be applied in other careers.
Project Save Hospitality has therefore made its mission to foster career development for displaced hospitality professionals, offering job coaching and resume-writing assistance, as well as holding a virtual career fair through leading online job-fair platform Brazen. Another of its goals is to highlight the need for diversity, pushing for equal job-market opportunities to be extended to people of all ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations.
"Project Save Hospitality will bring light to a diverse and talented community that is typically passed over," said Melissa DelBuono, Project Save Hospitality's CEO and Co-founder. "The career creativity, work ethic, team spirit and brilliance that this workforce can provide, can make a huge difference and create value in so many other industries."
"The hospitality Industry has always provided entertainment, comfort, refuge and normalcy for its clientele, bringing professionalism, empathy and enthusiasm to the job regardless of circumstances," Co-founder Kingsley Egbuchunam agreed. "It is important that we do not turn our back on those who made us feel special during their time of need."
Project Save Hospitality's virtual career fair will take place on January 28, 2021, hosted by Brazen, a cutting-edge company that builds online recruiting events, and is trusted by some of the world's top universities and employers. Companies that are interested in participating can email the organization at projectsavehospitalityteam@gmail.com.
"Project Save Hospitality's mission to save jobs, especially for the disproportionate number of minorities in the hospitality industry, aligns with Brazen's goal to provide career conversations and resources to this underrepresented and underserved group as part of the Brazen Opportunity Fund," said Joe Matar, Brazen's vice president of marketing. "This group was severely impacted by COVID-19 and we are honored to partner with them to connect those job seekers with employers in other industries through Brazen's virtual career fair platform. There is no better time than now to help those struggling with employment as a result of the ongoing pandemic."
Topics From This Article to Explore
