A hotel recruits in departments, not in job titles. Front office, food and beverage, housekeeping, kitchen, maintenance and support each have their own standards, tests and — by country — their own permit feasibility. This page sets out how a complete hotel workforce from the Philippines is composed and phased, with a model mix for a 200-room property. The roles themselves are described on the profession guides.
An illustrative 200-room full-service hotel staffing from overseas might plan: twenty-four room attendants with three floor supervisors; sixteen F&B service staff with two head waiters; fourteen kitchen staff across hot, cold and pastry with four stewards; six front-office staff across shifts; four maintenance and support staff. That is about seventy people — a workforce, with its own ratios, standards and arrival order. The numbers are a model, not a client case; your occupancy, outlets and brand standard set yours.
Supervisors matter and are limited: a Filipino team integrates best with ten to fifteen per cent of the intake as experienced team leaders — floor supervisors, head waiters, a sous-chef — while department heads are usually local or long-serving. We select supervisors on documented experience and on a supervision scenario, not on a title.
Which hospitality roles can come depends on the country, and we say so before quoting. Croatia admits the whole operative range on seasonal or standard permits after the 15-day HZZ labour-market test, waived where the occupation is on the HZZ exemption list of the county concerned — cooks and waiters in 12 counties, assistant cooks/waiters, chambermaids and cleaners in 9 counties (coastal counties, Karlovac, Zagreb City and County); receptionists and bartenders are tested; Malta admits it on the single permit with the Skills Pass and the Pre-Departure Course; the Gulf on MoHRE permits by skill level; the Czech Republic and other Central European markets within their national programmes. Germany admits hospitality staff with a two-year qualification or through training, with no route for unqualified service staff and no seasonal route for Philippine nationals; Austria admits cooks as a nationwide shortage occupation and waiters only regionally. In the Netherlands the UWV labour-market test is not passed for operative hospitality roles in practice, and Flanders' 2026 shortage list excludes low-skilled roles.
In practice: housekeeping and F&B are feasible in Croatia, Malta, the Gulf and Central Europe; kitchen roles additionally in Austria (nationwide shortage occupation) and in Germany for qualified cooks; front-office roles are feasible on skill-level routes in the Gulf and within national programmes elsewhere. We map every line of the manpower plan to the country before quoting.
Housekeeping and kitchen arrive first — rooms and food are what an opening or a season cannot start without — followed by F&B and front office two to four weeks before the first guest, so that the property trains on its own systems. Waves of twenty to thirty keep housing and induction manageable; for a seasonal property the whole workforce is in place by the season's first week; for an opening, see the ramp-up page.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office for the destination, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no cook, waiter or room attendant pays for an interview, a skills test or a place on a shortlist. Your company is the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to the immigration route, labour-market rules and sector requirements of the destination country and Philippine DMW rules.
Yes — a selection week in Makati can test and interview candidates for every department at once, with each department head present or online. Arrivals are then phased by department.
Ten to fifteen per cent of the intake as team leaders and head waiters is realistic and integrates well; department heads are usually local or promoted later.
On skill-level routes in the Gulf and within national programmes in Central Europe, Croatia and Malta, yes; in Germany and Austria the role needs a recognised qualification or a training route.
Yours — send the standard sheet and timing; room attendants are tested on it at our Makati facilities, watched live by your executive housekeeper.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.