‘December CW deadline too short to train new local hires’

The Hotel Association in the Northern Mariana Islands is wary of the immediate impact on the Commonwealth’s tourism industry if the federal government decides not to extend the contract worker program beyond this year.
HANMI president Nick Nishikawa described the program’s December deadline as “too short” for hotels to prepare for the exodus of most of its employees.

Nishikawa, who is also general manager of the Hyatt Regency Saipan, disclosed that the establishment is projected to lose 40 percent of its staff once their CW permits expire all at the same time in the next 10 months.

“December is too short for our hotels to find replacements. We need a few more years—maybe three to five years— to train all of our local hires. At present, we’re depending many of our services on CW staff and it’s not that easy to train new workers,” said Nishikawa.

Hyatt, he said, has a high number of local hires now at 60 percent of its workforce. The remaining percentage is occupied by alien workers, majority from the Philippines.

When asked if hotels are finding the needed replacement for their CW personnel, Nishikawa said the association has been able to find “many good local people” for various positions but they lack the necessary training.

He said hotels are willing to hire and have been training new personnel ever since the CW program was established.

“If we will be given the extension we need, I am optimistic that we will be better prepared. But without the requested extension beyond 2014, it would make us difficult to survive,” he said.

He pointed out that the lack of a well-trained hotel staff would mean lowering hotel service standards that would ultimately chase away guests and tourists.

“Our need for well-trained workers must be considered in order for us to continue business on this island,” he said.

He conceded that many hotels have found good local people to hire but that the available talent in the CNMI remains insufficient to satisfy the demand of all hotels.

Nishikawa predicts chaos in the hotel industry if no extension is accorded to CW personnel. He said the high occupancy rates in most hotels at present is ultimately attributed to the kind of service CNMI hotels provide.

The federal government has yet to provide any assurance that it will extend the CW program, despite requests made by the CNMI government and Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP).

The CW program is expiring on Dec. 31, 2014, leaving the federal government 10 months to make its decision. If the extension is not granted, all foreign workers in the CNMI—estimated at some 10,000—will be forced to exit the Commonwealth.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos earlier reiterated that the CNMI really needs an extension of the transition period because current tourism trends have resulted in new businesses opening up and new investments coming to the islands, which needs workers.

HANMI has 12 member hotels. It was established in 1985 as a professional forum for the hospitality industry of the NMI.