Accor targets Indigenous workers

Shane Edwards

Cairns hotelier Shane Edwards wants more Indigenous people working in his hotel chain’s Queensland operations.

There’s a solid business case behind the move. “One of the biggest (benefits) is in (the supply of) employees,” he said.

“Australia, generally, has a staff shortage in hospitality. Lots of our hotels are in places with large Indigenous populations, so it makes sense to (employ Indigenous) people.”

There’s a second benefit — having Indigenous faces amongst the staff is a subtle welcome to Indigenous guests.

“Cairns, traditionally, has had lots of Japanese guests, and from China and Germany, so we employ Japanese, Chinese and German-speaking staff,” Shane said.

“Now we are getting a lot of Indigenous guests, so it makes sense to employ Indigenous people to look after them. It’s about diversifying the hotel.

“We’re looking to get to at least three per cent (Indigenous employees) across all hotels (in Australia).”

Shane is the state representative for Accor’s Indigenous program — a program to boost the number of Indigenous employees in its Australian workforce.

The Indigenous program puts potential staff through a week of job-ready training before selecting the best for permanent employment.

“We go out to local organisations and schools and ask them to provide people who might be interested in working in hospitality,” he said.

For more information, visit www.accorhotels.com or www.accorjobs.com