PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — South Florida tourism is reaching pre-pandemic levels, but for hotels staffing remains a struggle. The reason may surprise you: competition and the lack of affordable housing.
The open positions at the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort and Spa really run the gamut.
“Beach attendants, pool attendants, food and beverage, bartenders, servers,” said Stephanie Guibert, director of human resources, naming a few of the more than two dozen open positions. “Pretty much every department has a vacancy right now.”
Guibert said the turnover is nothing like hospitality has been before. She said it’s getting more difficult to retain employees.
“Everybody is hiring for the same exact thing right now, everybody is competing with different benefits,” Guibert said.
What’s helped many local resorts in the past, General Manager Roger Amidon said, is not an option for the resort this season. The H2B visa program, which grants foreign workers temporary visas to work in the U.S. is usually a go-to labor source.
“If we’re able to attract them here to our resort, where do they find housing?” said Amidon.
According to CareerSource Palm Beach County, to date, 43 area hotels/clubs/resorts have applied for more than 2,000 H2B visa positions, but it turns out, many resorts that intended to hire foreign workers this season couldn’t because of the housing market.
"Typically, country clubs, hotels or resorts, they’ll partner with either local real estate companies or if they have a partnership with someone who may have a multi-unit complex to see if they can negotiate a price," said Amidon.
Due to the high cost to rent in Palm Beach County, Amidon said it did not make sense financially for the resort to tap into the foreign worker program this year. Instead, the resort has had to get creative to fill certain positions.
“Her name is Rosie and she can bus tables,” said Guibert about a robot working in the hotel’s restaurant.
The resort has also reinstated 401k match, increased referral incentives, and is offering higher pay which has expedited its compliance of Florida’s mandated $15 minimum wage over the next four years.
“We’re already there and in a lot of cases, we’re going to be above that in 2026,” said Amidon.
Server Roberto Valentino said he’s fortunate his rent only went up by 100 dollars in Palm Beach County and then he found a job at the resort.
“At the time, I had two jobs and so I was stable enough here to not work a second job,” said Valentino.
With occupancy at 100% this week, the resort hosted a job fair to try and fill about 30 open positions. Meanwhile, the busy spring break weeks are just around the corner.
“We are having to rely on third-party contractors to try to fill in some of those gaps because at the end of the day, the show must go on,” said Guibert.
According to CareerSource Palm Beach County, aside from housing challenges, hiring foreign workers has been more difficult for employers this season because of the effects of processing backlogs, COVID restrictions on travel, and more competition from other countries.