Hotels Are Hiring as Americans Hit the Road

Hotels are hiring. That simple statement is giving hope to many long-unemployed or underemployed Americans who see hotel jobs as a pathway back to full-time work—low-paying, long-hours work, but a job nonetheless.

Hotels and motels are getting busier as Americans feel a little more secure economically and are taking vacations. “With more people on the road, we’ll need more people working in hotels,” says Jan Freitag, a senior vice president at Smith Travel Research. He cites a 4.1 percent gain in first-quarter hotel bookings as a “very positive sign” that U.S. tourism is rebounding.