Manila Bulletin
Scotland wants Filipinos for hotel, restaurant work
By MALOU M. MOZO
CEBU CITY — Tourism stakeholders in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, are eyeing Filipinos to study and work in their hospitality industry which the Edinburgh government is determined to pump up amid the global crisis.
Officials from Edinburgh’s Tel-Ford College (ETC), which offers hotel and restaurant management courses, visited Cebu Wednesday and invited Cebuanos to take advantage of the school’s "Study and Work" program that allows one to legally work in Scotland’s "most important industry."
Tom McGregor, head of ETC’s HRM unit, cited Edinburgh’s Tourist Action Group forecasting 24,000 available hospitality jobs between 2007 and 2015.
"There are many career paths you can choose in Edinburgh. Job opportunities are still immense even with the crisis. Right now, we have a shortage of HRM workers and we believe that the hospitable nature of Filipinos makes them our top choices," said Julia Weedon, ETC international manager.
Weedon said Edinburgh’s hospitality industry pays a minimum wage of 5.73 pounds or approximately P350 per hour.
Weedon underscored that like Cebu, Edinburgh continues to enjoy a bullish tourism industry amid the global economic slowdown that has affected other industries. She said there were 13 million tourists who visited Edinburgh in 2008.
But because of the extensive choices in career paths available to Scots, very few consider working in their tourism industry so ETC is extending its invitation overseas, she said.
Weedon said the Scotish government has a program called Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme to lure other nationalities to Scotland.
Under the program, students who have completed their courses may be granted permission to work in the United Kingdom for up to two years without a work permit.
To make its HRM course more accessible to Filipinos, ETC has partnered with international training and consulting firm Integrative Learning Institute.
IL Institute will offer a three-year "fast-track degree" wherein the student will take the first semester in the Philippines while his UK visa application is being processed, said Jorge Perez de Tagle, president of IL Institute.
By the second semester, the student can take lessons at ETC while working part time 20 hours a week to cover living expenses in Scotland, he added.
