New resort casino in Manila eyes Cebu’s HRM graduates

A high-end resort and casino, which is set to start operations next year in Manila, will hire at least 4,600 Hotel and Restaurant Management graduates from Cebu and other provinces in the region.

Solaire Resort and Casino, a $1 billion integrated destination developed by Bloomberry Resorts Corp. in Manila, aims to become the country’s top gaming destination once it starts operations.

The firm would be willing to hire fresh graduates and train them to fit in with the operations of the property, said Michael French, Solaire Resort and Casino chief executive officer, last Friday.

“We started the caravan here in Cebu and we have two more in plans in other cities in Mindanao. We want to find the right people with the right attitude to help us achieve the vision of becoming a top gaming destination in the country,” said French.

“We’re banking on Cebu’s reputation in tourism and as an educational hub in the southern Philippines,” said French.

As of Friday, they  received 18,000 applicants. About 10 percent of the applicants or 1800 passed their requirements.

The HRM graduate-applicants should possess the right attitude required to work in a high-end brand, said Renato Gonzales, Solaire Resort and Casino vice president for human resource and administration.

“We have a lot of them equipped with the skills, but we are looking for more than that. We are looking for a certain attitude and personality which most of our applicants failed to have,” said Gonzales.

“We will be pushing forward with more aggressive recruitment here until we get the right people.”

French said the firm would still need more people once the firm would open the second and third phases of the property.

“We are optimistic that we can find the right people especially that Filipinos are known worldwide to be the best in the hospitality industry,” said French.

French said the newly hired graduates would undergo a four-month training to be qualified to man the operations of the resort-casino.

French said Solaire Resort and Casino would have its soft opening on January next year.