Tag: hospitality equipment

The Hospitality Industry Runs via a Robust Immigrant Work Force

The Hospitality Industry Runs via a Robust Immigrant Work Force
The Hospitality Industry Runs via a Robust Immigrant Work Force

Recent controversy about immigration policies in the United States has sounded an alarm among members of the hospitality industry. Potential regulation changes could seriously impact the robust immigrant workforce in restaurants and hotels.

How the Hospitality Industry Relies on Immigrants

According to the National Restaurant Association, nearly one-quarter of restaurant employees nationwide are immigrants. That number is even larger among chefs, where immigrants make up 45 percent of the total.

The ratio is borne out in individual states such as New Mexico, where approximately 22 percent of hospitality workers are immigrants. Numbers are even higher at some individual businesses such as the Inn of the Governors in Santa Fe, where immigrants are one-third of the hotel’s 75 employees.

“The Hardest Workers”

Cynthia Fresquez, general manager of the DoubleTree Hotel in Albuquerque, estimates that 50 percent of housekeeping workforces are comprised of immigrants. Fresquez adds that immigrants are “the hardest workers” who keep the businesses going.

That sentiment is echoed by Sam Gerberding, general manager of the Inn of the Governors. Gerberding says that immigrants are “profoundly important” because they are willing and able to perform jobs that would otherwise go unfilled.

Fernando Olea, owner and chef at Sazon, a Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe, employs a staff that is roughly 30 percent immigrants. Olea admits that he doesn’t know “how restaurants would be able to operate” without the immigrant workforce.

Lighten the Load with Battery-Powered Hotel Carts

As Cynthia Fresquez pointed out, housekeeping is the backbone of hotel operations. Visit our website to learn how you can improve staff efficiency and safety with electric hotel carts from DJ Products.

Wheel Design Is Important Element in Health, Hospitality Equipment

There’s a big difference in the amount of energy and effort it takes to push a wheeled cart across a smooth, flat linoleum floor and a floor covered in carpet. So many factors come into play, including:

  • The design, width and size of the wheel.
  • The weight of the piece of equipment being moved.
  • The depth and nap of the carpet.
  • Whether the transport area is flat or inclined or a combination of the two.

These issues and many others are seriously considered during the design of ergonomic material handling equipment for use in health care and hospitality settings that generally include carpets in some areas. Wheel design can significantly impact the amount of force it takes to maneuver a laundry, food, utility, maintenance or garbage cart or some other piece of equipment across hospital, nursing home, hotel, motel or resort floors.

DJ Products electric cart pushers feature a unique wheel design that provides optimal traction on both smooth and carpeted floors with no discernable transition issues. The ergonomic design of our motorized hospital and hospitality cart pushers removes transition issues as carts move easily from one flooring surface to the next. Changes in grade and friction are negated by ergonomic wheel design that allows smooth travel over and between surfaces. The unique 5th wheel design of our control arm allows safe 180 degree pivoting of fully-loaded carts under the arm. This feature allows workers to turn heavy loads a full 90 degrees without risk of jackknifing the care or needing to manually maneuver the front end of the cart.

The result is safer operation for hospital and hospitality workers and more versatile use of these exceptional ergonomic material handling products.