Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando hosts hiring event ahead of summer travel demand

Hiring bonuses, same-day job offers expected

ORLANDO, Fla. – Loews Hotels, which operates several properties at Universal Orlando, is hosting a hiring event this week to fill hundreds of roles.

The event is happening Wednesday and Thursday at Loews Royal Pacific Resort Oceana Ballroom.

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Jobs have been offered on the spot too, as Shawn German, the regional manager for human resources said the goal is to get all eight of their hotels fully operational before the summer demand.

“Our business demand is picking up,” German said, adding it has been a challenge to bring workers back. “It’s a concern because we want to make sure we are staffed as properly as we can be to take care of the demand we are seeing.”

That’s why Loews Hotels offers a comprehensive benefits package, which includes full health, dental and life insurance, 401(k) retirement savings, paid parental leave, career advancement programs, paid time off, free meals, free and complimentary theme park access, tuition reimbursement, city-wide employer recognized discounts and more.

Career opportunities include a number of roles in the areas of culinary, stewarding, food and beverage, engineering, front office and guest services, housekeeping, recreation and lifeguards as well as security.

The hiring event took place Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will continue Thursday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Interested candidates can register here to attend and view directions.

The job fair comes on the same day the Orange County Convention Center posted it is hiring for 150 part-time and on-call positions, hoping to get those positions by June when the big convention shows start coming in.

“Business is coming back in a big way,” said Mark Tester, executive director of the Orange County Convention Center. “Really beginning in June throughout the rest of the calendar year, we have a packed calendar year.”

He too spoke about the benefits of working your way up through not only the convention and hospitality business, but that these positions lead to full-time benefits through Orange County government as well.

“We have currently 78 full-time positions we are going to hire in the first quarter of 2022,” Tester said. “We have great county benefits and a great state pension. We are hopeful people look at us not only as hospitality but as government. You can come into a great culture and feel confident you have work in a long-rolling career with Orange County and the Orange County Convention Center.”

Also in the tourist district, Universal Orlando Resort is looking for employees.

“Universal Orlando currently has openings for thousands of positions of all types across our destination. This includes food and beverage, aquatics, operations, merchandise, customer service representatives in our in-house call center and more,” the company said in a statement.

Interested candidates can learn more at UniversalOrlandoJobs.com.

According to VisitOrlando research, data from March 2021 shows there were 181,000 jobs in the leisure and tourism sector, 97,000 less jobs than in March 2020 or a nearly 35% decrease.

“You want to provide great customer service,” Tester added. “Not just for us, but for I-Drive, the restaurants, the hotels. We want to hit it out of the park, we want visitors to say, ‘Not only did we have a great experience but we want to come back.’”

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