Hotels Turn to Five Stars to Address Talent Challenges

CAWD officially launched the Five Stars hotel workforce initiative on January 10th. The program has a dedicated program manager, marketing coordinator, and NCWorks career coach.

Hotel participation is strong. In addition to recruiting assistance, conversations revealed a deep need for retention strategies. Five Stars has facilitated:

• Access to Wake Tech’s Wake Works apprenticeship team through an apprenticeship summit
• NCWorks.gov training for job posting and recruiting
• Development of best practices related to diversity, equity, Inclusion, accessibility, and belonging

Outreach efforts have resulted in 28 self-referrals through the Five Stars website, in addition to several career center walk-ins. We are partnering with Wake County HHS/WorkFirst, Families Forever, housing affordability, and other agencies to increase program referrals. Options for paid advertising are also being implemented.

Hoteliers are working hard to entice applicants with increased wages and instituting culture changes that employees value.

Please refer anyone that is looking for meaningful work and training opportunities to Fivestarswake.org where you can also learn more about the program.