PLAIN ENGLISH

Maureen N. Maratita

At our house we have a well-stocked fridge, freezer and five generous shelves in our pantry, so if you were to forage for food or the fixings of a meal, you wouldn’t come away empty-handed.

But there are days when the best evening meal (and the likely option) is the one that we didn’t make ourselves.

In Yigo (to the North of Guam if you are reading the Journal off-island) we do not yet have the number of restaurants that other villages do, so we residents need to support them.

And if you are a restaurateur looking to expand, just contact me and I’d be happy to give you some suggestions on strategic locations.

And maybe advice on the best landlords.

That’s how long I’ve lived in Yigo — and well, I accumulate information in my business, or else I just have a friendly face that welcomes sharing. … 

 

In 1999, one of the first projects I took on for Guam Business Magazine was a restaurant guide. The number of restaurants on the island was close to 350, including bakeries. I phoned each of them.

I also worked on the Guam Business Deloitte & Touche ASC Trust list of the Top Companies at the same time, so if I had the wrong file document open, there was every possibility I would ask some executive, “Opening hours?” …

 

In 2019, we published the number of food service workers in Guam in an article on restaurants: 6,800.

In March 2020, the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association reported to the Guam Department of Labor that out of more than 4,200 workers employed by 14 members that responded to a request for data, more than 3,200 workers had their hours reduced, 911 were furloughed and 109 were laid off, which is a somber statistic.

But in 2019, the average food service manager was earning $54,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The bureau projected an 11% growth for food service manager positions from 2018 to 2028 — faster than the average for all other occupations. BLS projected a 6% growth for food servers in the same period — the average for all other occupations. …

I checked the latest predictions for professional growth with BLS and here are the top five professions predicted for growth in the U.S. from 2020 to 2030: Motion picture projectionists, wind turbine service technicians, ushers, lobby attendants and ticket-takers, nurse practitioners and solar voltaic installers. Restaurant workers slid down to Number 6.

“Model makers, wood” just scraped into the top ten. …

If you are a Type A parent who is paying for private education this may not be good news. It’s probably giving you palpitations.

If you are employed in education — particularly higher education, it’s not good news either.

But take heart. Statistics only deliver what you ask them, within chosen parameters. Depending on who you talk to, we are short of all sorts of personnel in Guam — doctors, restaurant workers and construction professionals at all levels. And economists. And journalists.

I talk to dozens of people each week. I hear a lot about labor shortages. But I am not hearing, “I’d pay top dollar for a really good wood model maker.” …

 

— Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Media. Publications at Glimpses Media include the Marianas Business Journal, MBJ Life, The Real Estate Journal, Guam Business Magazine, Beach Road Magazine, Buenas and Drive Guam.