Billions in buildup funding may just be around the corner, but the island’s private sector can’t cash in on promises for the future, so they’ve had to shed jobs and cut back on hours worked instead.
According to the latest employment report from the Guam Department of Labor, the total number of jobs on island “declined measurably” in the second quarter of this year.
Private companies on island shed 720 jobs between March and June of this year.
Read the Guam Labor Report
The ax fell most heavily on the retail and hotel sectors. 310 retail jobs lost, 260 hotel positions eliminated, 290 jobs lost in other service areas.
The reason is the decline in the island’s tourism industry as visitor arrival in the first half of the year continued to decline.
Beside the job losses, the Labor report also notes that the average weekly hours paid in overtime declined dramatically in the hotel sector. Paid hours averaged just 31.7 hours a week in June. That is down from 36.4 hours a week in June of last year.
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