Restaurant and hotel operators on Green Island (綠島) have placed “help wanted” advertisements offering opportunities for “working holidays” to beach lovers as the island prepares for the peak travel season next month, attracting scores of college students, as well as workers on unpaid leave.
Green Island’s off-peak travel season is from October to March, as the strong northeast monsoon during the period causes communications and transportation difficulties and it brings a halt to aquatic activities.
From April until the end of summer each year, Green Island, which is located about 33km off the eastern coast of Taiwan proper, is packed with tourists — between 3,000 and 5,000 every day — as it enters the peak tourist season.
To cope with the thousands of tourists arriving on the island, tour operators have launched an employment scheme known as the “working holiday,” offering beach lovers a chance to indulge their passion for the relaxing beach life, while also working.
The Zhaori Tourist Service Center of Green Island, which launched the working holiday scheme, is aiming to recruit 15 employees, the biggest demand for manpower of all island-based operators.
Interviews are scheduled to begin early this month, the tourist service center said, with about 40 applicants already sending in their resumes so far.
Tourist service center deputy director Liu Mei-fang (劉美芳) said that with a large number of employees at technology companies on unpaid leave, many of them have chosen to apply for a position along with students hoping to obtain work experience in the service industry.
The 15 vacancies comprise positions such as service personnel at hot springs and hotels, as well as in the entertainment business, Liu said, adding that the employment period was from April to September, with each employee entitled to a monthly allowance of NT$4,000, as well as subsidies for return tickets to Taiwan proper.
Liu said applicants should consider the opportunity carefully before sending in their resume, as employees are required to provide their own transportation while they are on the island and no Internet service is provided in the staff dormitories.
Applicants should also take their physical condition into account and recognize that Green Island is not as prosperous as the metropolitan cities on Taiwan proper, she said.
Translated by Stacy Hsu, staff writer
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