City, Marriott join to offer job training

ANAHEIM-They might pore over financial records work for a high high-powered executive, spend their time in the kitchen or make beds and clean toilets. But each of them will share something in common. They will all be recruits in the city's newest job training program, designed to train lowincome residents for jobs with the Marriott Hotel chain. The six-week program, slated to begin Aug. 26, will include two weeks of unpaid classroom training at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel and four weeks of paid, onthe-job training at Marriott hotels in Orange County. After they complete the program, participants will start their new jobs at Marriott hotels. "It is not just housekeeping positions," said Iris Murray, regional manager for community employment and training for the Marriott Corp. "They don't realize what goes on in the back of a house in a hotel, how many departments it takes to make the hotel run smoothly." City and hotel officials said many job seekers have begun to take a second look at hotels and other tourism-related industries since the employment market began drying up. Hospitality now tops the list of growing industries, project supervisor Rita Slayton said.