Starwood's well timed release today announcing projections to add more than 12,000 jobs to the global workforce in 2010 was a stroke of genius. The release came just days after a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said unemployment remained at 10 percent in December with more than 15 million unemployed people. The news was picked up by most major business news organizations (including the Associated Press, which means many papers across the country will likely run at least a blurb on the news) and any positive employment news is good news in today's economic environment.
The bulk of the 12,000 jobs will come through a projected 80-100 new Starwood hotels, most scheduled to open in the U.S. I'm not questioning the numbers or news, but I'm thinking that most hotel companies (Marriott, Hilton, etc.) are opening a similarly good number of hotels, meaning they are also adding jobs to the workforce. I'm not sure if the number takes into account any likely lost jobs through attrition and conversion, but most companies probably could paint the same pretty picture. Kudos for Starwood for adding the positions, but also for taking advantage of the opportunity for some positive news on the heels of the negative unemployment news.
The news of the added positions seems obvious to me, but it sure sounds good.