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‘Hyatt at 40 is historic’
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Posted on Dec 04 2020
Hyatt director for Human Resources Josephine Mesta. (Bea Cabrera)
Josephine Mesta can’t help but get sentimental when she looks back and see how far Hyatt Regency Saipan has gone in the past 40 years.
In fact, Mesta, who is Hyatt’s director for Human Resources, worked at the hotel when it was still the Continental Hotel.
“So I am almost making a full circle. …It’s been a wonderful ride for me as a career,” she said.
For the 40 years that the hotel has been in operation in the CNMI, Mesta said that they have been actively involved in the community. “We are a company that believes that we have a social responsibility, wherever we are at,” she said. “The past few months have been filled with many bittersweet moments, especially at this time of the pandemic. We had to let go of several employees who came in at the same time as I did. …It’s heartbreaking [but] cest la vie, we didn’t create the situation but we have to respond to it.”
Mesta saw the growth of the Hyatt workforce over the years and is proud of the loyalty many of them have showed. “It is interesting to see the evolution of this business. …When I started, it was 20% U.S. workforce but now it’s 100% U.S. workforce. …Sadly, we lost a lot of our key players, the ones who are experienced and I hope some of them would return somehow,” she said,
“Our mentality is the work that we do is more than just a job and a lot of employees share the same sentiments we have. We have employees who probably have an average of 10-plus years and one 30-plus years. It is where we grew up. …I was in my prime when I joined Hyatt…but I wouldn’t trade it [for other careers]. …Even after 27 years, I still feel I have more to do here not only in the coming days but hopefully for the next 40 years,” she added.
