They might as well hang a giant "Help Wanted" sign on the front door of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
The massive entertainment complex held a job fair Monday, advertising 500 available positions in everything from housekeeping to security to casino operations to front desk jobs. Dozens of people were hired on the spot and walked out with new jobs.
They didn’t need a perfect hand or a lucky roll of the dice, they just needed to show up with a decent resume, and the people we spoke to were not picky.
“Just an opportunity, anywhere will fit for me right now, whether it’s finance or security, I just want to get my feet wet and take care of my family,” said Aymeric Etheart, who was looking for any job with stability.
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Like many of the job seekers, Etheart is trying to recover from a pandemic layoff.
“Yes, I did get unlucky with the pandemic last year, so I’m looking for another opportunity to start over,” Etheart said.
Scott Hendel is in the same boat. He’s a refugee from the hard-hit cruise industry.
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“I’m just looking for a new job, I got laid off from my former employer which was a cruise line, so I’m just ready to bounce back,” Hendel said. “It was a pandemic layoff, I haven’t been working, excited to get back to work doing something I like.”
“Any type of job at this point, just something to help pay the bills again,” said Brian Lynch, describing what he was looking for at the job fair.
Lynsey said an injury at his former job, combined with the pandemic, left him unemployed.
Dejah Wooten is about to move to South Florida from Jacksonville, and she was hoping to be dealt a winning hand at the job fair.
“I used to be a waitress for three years, and then corona shut down the restaurants and everything. I worked at a gas station, and then from there, I went to a casino in Jacksonville and now trying to move down here since everything’s opening back up and stuff,” Wooten explained.
Her chances were good. The Hard Rock is offering incentives, including a $300 signing bonus, flexible schedules and benefits for full-time employees, to lure in applicants like Scott Hendel.
“They hired me and I’m really excited, I told them I’ll do anything, I’m filling out the application right now, but they hired me, I’m ready to start, good to go!” Hendel said.
All the applicants we spoke to said the federal government’s pandemic stimulus checks helped them weather the unemployment storm. Gov. Ron DeSantis is cutting off those $300 weekly checks at the end of this month, believing they have become a disincentive to seek work, and that they are leading to a labor shortage.
For a full list of positions, click here.
