Hotels begin staff cuts By Janet Silvera, Freelance Writer WESTERN BUREAU: TODAY, HOTELS will begin cutting their work force and employees from all categories in the industry will be affected. "No exceptions will be made. All departments will be affected, I will probably have to take a pay cut myself," President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), Joseph Forstmayr, told The Gleaner. The decision was announced after a JHTA chapter meeting at the Wexford Court Hotel, Gloucester Avenue, Montego Bay yesterday. "The immediate short-term effect is going to be grief for the next several weeks," Mr. Forstmayr said. "We will have to make drastic cost cuts, in staffing, entertainment and food and beverage until at least the end of October." Although hotels usually send home casual staff during September, generally a slow month, the situation has been further aggravated by the crisis in the United States. With an estimated 7,000 tourists scattered all over the island at present, 2,800 of whom came in two days ago, hoteliers are seeking ways to obtain short-term loans. "Certainly we will never ask for a bail-out, but there is a very real need for a cash flow support," he says. "This business of tourism is a high capital investment, high cost ratio, even when there is not a single guest in the hotel." The association plans to meet the utility companies with the hope of getting a concession for its members. Mr. Forstmayr says the members have been asked to institute a three-day rotation system, instead of one week on, one week off, so persons affected will be able to take home what he termed 'a little something' at the end of the week. According to Mr. Fortsmayr these measures are all short term, as he still envisages a strong winter tourist season.
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