The Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart-owned Beaches resorts in the Turks and Caicos Islands is ramping up its Jamaican staff in the British dependency by an immediate 100 persons, with plans for another 50 to be added in the near future.

When the additional 50 are recruited later, it will bring the number of Jamaicans working at Beaches Turks and Caicos Resorts to 503, Human Resources Director Monique McClean-Vaughn told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

News of the decision has set off a buzz among Sandals and Beaches staff across Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril and Whitehouse, Westmoreland from which the 100 persons will be recruited.

McClean-Vaughn said a team of eight recruiters from the TCI will arrive in Jamaica this April 29 to begin four days of interviews which they hope will culminate in the first batch of 100 persons arriving at Beaches Turks and Caicos within the next six to

eight weeks.

The Jamaicans will fill vacancies as room technicians in the engineering department; kitchen line cooks; concierge agent; butlers; security officers; bartenders in the pool and beach areas; waiters and waitresses in the buffet and A-La-Carte restaurants; room attendants and housemen.

Among the 353 Jamaicans already in the TCI are several senior executives who have been serving at the resort for several years.

Stewart said he was especially pleased that as a spinoff, his resorts in Jamaica would have to recruit more staff to replace those who were successful in their application for Beaches TCI.

“I am at my happiest when we are in a position to provide jobs for Jamaicans who deserve to have employment so that they can take care of themselves and their families,” Stewart said, while expressing satisfaction with the quality of work done by Jamaicans who work in his resorts across the Caribbean.

McClean said the Jamaicans were eagerly awaited at Beaches TCI which has been running a room occupancy rate upwards of 95 per cent for the past nine months. Guest capacity is 2,300.

“We are basically looking for persons with at least two years of experience who will be able to deliver the luxury-included experience that Beaches proudly offers,” she added.

McClean said the resort had always had a diverse staff and in the near future would be introducing an exchange programme in TCI, to be linked to the Sandals Corporate University launched recently.

The resort currently has 1,274 employees, representing 30 nationalities, with a ratio of 2:1 per room. The hotel’s international staff is drawn from the Turks and Caicos Islands, Caricom and Central and South America, Canada, USA and Europe.