Another 63 Vincentians off to work at Sandals and Beaches Resorts

This is the second group of some 500 expected to be enrolled, with another group to be sent off in the coming weeks 

KINGSTON, ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES — Some 63 Vincentians have officially departed their hometown to begin working and training as employees at Sandals and Beaches Resorts across the Caribbean.

The group was the second cohort of a total 500 Vincentians expected to be hired and undertake training ahead of the opening of the resort chain’s new property, Beaches St. Vincent & the Grenadines, which is anticipated to open in 2022-2023. The first cohort began in mid-June.

Commenting at the workers’ send-off, Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves said, “There was a commitment from Adam Stewart, the head of Sandals Resorts, that he hire 500 Vincentians to come here. We’re sending off 63…of those 500 this weekend.

“This is our second sort of shipment out of workers. A few left a few weeks ago and the Sandals team is telling me that in another two weeks, more Vincentians will be heading off as part of this commitment.

“It’s a tremendously exciting time, [during] this difficult time, to see 63 young Vincentians getting jobs.”

Explaining the unique position these new employees have, Learning & Development Manager at Sandals Grande St. Lucian Maxine Pierre said, “Today, we were very happy to send off a number of team members.

“This recruitment drive is one like no other; we’ve not opened a resort this way before. Usually when we open our resorts, we start with the construction and building and all of that, and we bring in the team members to train at that specific resort close to the date.

“But what is unique about this Beaches St. Vincent is that we’re able to recruit team members beforehand and they get the opportunity to live and work in another island.”

The SVG recruitment drive has been progressing well, according to Regional Public Relations Director of Sandals in the eastern Caribbean Sonora Ramni.

“The first group that went off to Beaches Turks & Caicos, they settled in very well. The feedback from Turks & Caicos is that they have been doing very well,” said Ramni.

“We’re very thankful to have the ministers of government — Camilla Gonsalves and Carlos James — here to see off the team members and they’ve really expressed to them their desire to see them do well and to make St. Vincent proud.

“From the feedback we’ve been getting so far, the team members who have gone off are in fact doing that.”

Browse job opportunities in St. Vincent & the Grenadines and the wider Caribbean now at MyCaribbeanJobs.com.

Keep up with the latest employment news in the region at CaribbeanEmployment.com.