Job application numbers at Baha Mar grew by almost 1,000 over 24 hours, spiking to 5,475 applications yesterday from Tuesday's number. The recruitment drive for locals-only jobs at Baha Mar began Monday.
Robert "Sandy" Sands, Baha Mar's senior vice president of administration and external affairs, told The Nassau Guardian yesterday that the resort is taking applications for positions across the board in "multiple disciplines". The Guardian understands that this first wave of applicants will be all Bahamians.
Sands said the recruitment process will be ongoing, especially as the mega resort development will be opened in phases. However, he said a recruitment goal has to be met before the April 21 soft opening deadline, "and then we will continue the process as we work toward filling other vacancies in different phases of the phased opening".
It was revealed after Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), the owners of the property, reached a deal with the Bahamas government that the company would focus on opening and operating the casino hotel, the convention center and the golf course before phasing in the other properties. One of those properties is slated to be a Rosewood hotel; the brand is owned by CTFE.
In the meantime, recruitment professionals will be wading through the thousands of applications they have received before arriving to the call-back stage of the recruitment process.
Sands said he could not put a timeline on the process, but pointed out that Baha Mar is keeping a keen eye on its April deadline, which is less than 100 days away.
Once the recruitment phase is completed, Baha Mar will begin staff training. Sands told The Nassau Guardian on Monday that the training will be different "this time around" from the training received by the initial Baha Mar recruits three years ago.
"We will reinitiate the on-property training for the refreshment and upgrading of skills for individuals who will be hired to work within the casino, and then as we bring the brands on, in particular the Grand Hyatt, once that management agreement has been finalized, then we will start brand-specific training," said Sands.

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