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The management of Sheraton Addis is in a hiring
spree, eyeing a Millennium bonanza it will organise
inside Ethiopia's largest concert hall under
construction on Africa Avenue (Bole Road) at a
project cost of 10 million dollars.
The service during the parties will be provided by
the Sheraton Addis, which is now in the process of
recruiting between a 1,500 to 2,000 crew on a
six-month contractual basis. The recruits would go
through a 10-day training to be organised by a team
of professionals from the Sheraton, according to
Daniel Mezgebu, director of human resources at the
Sheraton.
Sources at the Sheraton disclosed to Fortune
that there will be three major events during the
coming Ethiopian millennial year: on the eve of the
New Year, at the end of fasting season for the
Muslim community during the last week of October
2007, and on December 31, 2007. Although the
thousands of crew hired by the Sheraton are meant to
work only during these occasions, they will be paid
a six-month salary.
Luigi Varnero Impresa Costruzioni Plc, aka Vernero,
a local construction company hired to undertake the
construction work, is progressing with an
astonishing speed, in a bid to host the first of the
concerts on the eve of Ethiopia's Millennium year on
September 11. Lying on a 90,000sqm plot facing
London Café, the concert hall will have a capacity
to accommodate 20,000 spectators. It is owned by
Addis Park Management & Development Service Plc (APDM),
a subsidiary of MIDROC Ethiopia.
To a casual visitor, it is clear that the concert
hall has yet to be fully furnished. Abinet
Gebremeskel, coordinator of the project and a close
confident of Sheik Mohamed Ali Al-Amoudi, who owns
both the hotel and the concert hall, says that it
would be completed before the Millennium comes.
"We will finish the remaining work in 16 days,
working 16 hours a day if necessary," he told
Fortune.
This state-of-the-art concert hall, which is being
constructed with over 600 local and foreign workers,
will have a life of only six months, according to
Abinet. The plot of land in which the concert hall
is being erected was originally designated for
another project envisioned by APDM. Two years ago,
the company leased the plot for 99 years from the
Land Administration Bureau of Bole District, to
build a hotel, which also incorporates a convention
centre.
Although speculations were rife in the capital on
the names of internationally acclaimed performers
from the United States (US), no confirmation has
been obtained by Fortune whether a deal has
been made yet with anyone.
It is, however, the first time for a hospitality
establishment to hire this number of people at a
time. Close to 2,000 applicants were short-listed
based on their language command, personality,
medical health and criminal records, according to
Daniel. The police department had to temporarily
reallocate its staff that run checks on fingerprints
to the Sheraton premises due to the huge number of
applicants to be checked on, sources disclosed.
The medical check-up was conducted by SelaM Health
Care Plc, a subsidiary of MIDROC Ethiopia. Amare
Abebe, a medical doctor at SelaM, told Fortune
that they have checked the health conditions -
TB, skin problems and hepatitis - of the recruits.
Daniel disclosed that contractual agreements will be
signed between the finalists and the Sheraton within
a week, beginning August 18. Currently, only 900
recruits have been called by the hotel to sign the
agreement.
Gebeyehu Guluma, one of the recruits, told
Fortune that the rest of them have been informed
to wait until their names are listed on the notice
board at the gate of Sheraton.
Though a huge number of people have flocked to the
Sheraton, deserting many of the other establishments
in the capital, Tsegaye Asfaw, president of
Ethiopian Hotels and Restaurants Association and
general manager of Imperial Hotel, believes it is
for the better of the industry.
"As these trained workers are hired on a contractual
basis, it is the industry which will get a lasting
benefit at the end of the day," he told Fortune.
As opposed to the previous years, the usual musical
extravaganza and celebration will not take place at
the premises of the Sheraton in the coming New Year
as the service department of the Sheraton would be
serving food and beverages at the concert hall,
Abinet told Fortune.
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