ABC/ Ida Mae AstuteIn addition to being a global superstar, Gloria Estefan is also an entrepreneur: She and husband Emilio own restaurants and hotels in Florida. Now, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple is finding new jobs for 300 of their employees who were left jobless when those properties had to close down or severely limit service.
As ABC affiliate Local 10 News reports, the couple is partnering with pharmacy giant CVS, which recently announced plans to hire 50,000 people.
Emilio reached out and, he tells the station, “they came through. They called right away, saying, ‘We’re willing to take the help,’ and I think it’s a message of hope.”
The displaced employees from the couple’s South Florida, Orlando and Vero Beach, Florida, properties are now being screened by CVS and will be matched with new jobs in a couple of days. According to Treasure Coast Newspapers, the restaurant and hotel employees will be hired as store associates, distribution center employees and member and customer service professionals.
“The hardest thing has been the restaurant business,” says Emilio. “You lose a lot of the waiters, a lot of the kitchen [staff]. It’s no way we could hold everybody. We had so many employees, but at least we kept some of the people working.”
He adds, “Me and Gloria, we went through a lot in our lives, and we had to ‘Get On Your Feet’ many times in our lives. We’re going to go through rough times, but I believe in the spirit of the country. I believe in America.”
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