NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Those looking for a job in the hospitality industry got the opportunity to speak with 48 employers at a job fair Tuesday.
Job-seekers from all backgrounds came to meet with employers at the fair.
"Nashville is kind of exploding when it comes to the hospitality industry. It's kind of on everybody's map now," said Claire Andrews, a soon-to-be college graduate.
"The work I'm looking for — warehouse shipping and receiving," said Cedric Williams. "I'm 60 years old. I could retire at 62 but I want to work until 67, 68 as long as I'm healthy."
Hospitality is the second-largest employment industry in Nashville.
Jenna Barger is with TC Restaurant Group, the company behind bars like FGL House, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar and Luke’s 32 Bridge.
"We hire anybody. We have positions for people 18 and over, so it's even some retired people that are looking for some part-time jobs, some school teachers you know that availability during the summer, just want to make a little extra cash on the weekends," she said.
It comes at a time when the industry is booming. Nashville has 273 hotels, with an additional 2,544 rooms under construction. Restaurants continue to open, as well. Sixty-six new restaurants opened in 2022, with 765 restaurants and bars opening since 2015.
"Just because it's hospitality we have jobs within hospitality that are niche specific: HR, finance, bookkeeping," said Chief Public Affairs Officer with the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, Andrea Arnold. "I just ran into a job-seeker looking for a finance bookkeeping job."
With hundreds of openings every day, industry leaders say it's a good time to be a job seeker.
"So not only is the opportunity here to have a career - it's the opportunity to have a career in a way that you really couldn't have in another city," said Arnold.
Those interested in hospitality job opportunitiescan find more here.
