State

vocational rehabilitation offices are our primary contacts for disseminating information about foodservice jobopenings within the state. In addition more than 400 private training agencies form a second line of resources for discovering qualified workers. We have supplied promotional and educational materials to induce these agencies to develop curricula in foodservice for their disabled trainees.

To discover job-openings,

we have conducted pollings of the

National Restaurant Association's membership, the high volume independents, the chains, franchisees, and in the May issue of Restaurants USA with a circulation of 27,000, we supplied a tear-out reply mailer, a request-form for information about rehabilitiation training and placement. These efforts have returned thousands of job opportunities for the impaired and have established firmer relationships between the training services for disabled people and the industry.

Aside from the well-known programs of

the

Marriott

Corporation and McDonald's Corporation to recruit and train workers from pools of disabled people, other foodservice organizations have likewise adopted policies to attract this untraditional sector of the population into their labor

forces.

Among them we should cite some samples of industry programs in which we have had a role in developing:

O Pizza Huts' unique plan to hire 2000 persons

with impairments in these three current years by linking its 6600 units with local sources of employees with disabilities.

The Imperial Hotels, a franchisee of 50 various hotels in 23 states recently adopted a program through the office of the Vice President for

Human Resources to relate the managers and

training programs in their areas.

Lettuce Leaf, a small chain, only 9 years old, in

writes, "All of these young persons are wonderful. They are reliable...constantly on the job."

Radisson Hotels promoted and have carried out a welldefined policy to employ persons with disabilities through the office of Vice President for Human Resources.

O Arby's of So. Florida through its regional office has

found

alliance with the Florida Vocational

Rehabilitation

26 units.

Services to recruit employees for its

Friendly's Restaurants actively initiated a company

wide program and succeeds in engaging the managers of its 840 units along the eastern seaboard to employ persons with disabilities.

instructional guide on all sources of potential employees including the disabled for its management. General Mills Restaurant Corporation, finds for

Red

its

Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants that rehabilitation training and placement services are available resources to fill their job openings.

Walt Disney World Swan at Lake Buena Vista
is

currently recruiting 800 persons with the assistance of the Florida Vocational Rehabilitation Services for its labor force in its new operation

to open November first.

So our liaison program between the public and private sectors links foodservice operators, both large and small, including single unit owners, throughout the country to the sources of employees among organizations serving persons with

disabilities.

Having access to public and private vocational training services, the employer finds potential resources of productive and loyal workers. Ideally, through training

program counselors, the employer knows beforehand the potentials, skills, attitudes, backgrounds of these people.

Employers enjoy a new alliance through professional counselors of rehabilitative services who make job analyses

and select qualified candidates who performing specific jobs.

will succeed

in

The only available data on the number of people with impairments newly employed annually in the foodservice

industry is

Rehabilitation

Education.

compiled by the Statistical Division of the

Services Administration at the Department of

national total of

The Division receives annual reports of the rehabilitated and job placed who are subsidized under state vocational rehabilitation services, which, in turn, are 80% subsidized by the federal government. A constant rehabilitated employees placed in private industry yearly is about 220,000. of that number placed in 1980, 5.8% were competitively employed by the hospitality industry. In succeeding years to 1985, the latest year of complete record, the percentage increased by annual increments to 7.3%. Since then the percentage has probably climbed to above representing upwards of 20,000 finding employment hospitality industry.

98,

in the

An

additional number not subsidized by public funding but trained and placed each year in foodservice jobs by private agencies is unknown.

Meanwhile, the demand by the hospitality

industry for

additional workers gradually grows acute in today's tight

labor market.

two-thirds

of

At the same time, the generally accepted data says that 6-8 million persons with disabilities are of working age, and at least them may qualify and want to work, but cannot for lack of training and the necessary assistance. Incidentally, this population is not counted in the national unemployment rate.

new

of

Today 8.5 million persons are employed in the food service industry, grossing $227 billion in 1988 and having a growth rate annually of 6 to 7 percent. The total employed will increase to 11.4 million workers by the year 2000. According to the Labor Department forecasts, an increase of 2.9 million job-openings will occur, owing to growth alone. these, about one million cooks, bakers, and other workers in food preparation will be needed; another 1.2 million more persons will be required to fill added service occupations, such as hosts, hostesses, waiters, waitresses, counter attendants, cashiers, bartenders, etc.; an additional 700,000 will find positions as managers, accountants and for other administrative functions.

These

predicted increases

in the foodservice labor force refer only to new positions that growth will create in the next 10 years. At the same time another million and more positions will be vacated by retirees and other turnovers.

Ample job opportunities at all levels exist in the industry for people with disabilities. Marriott Hotels Corporation exemplifies the industry's ability to asborb into its labor force people with various types and severity of disabilities: