TAMPA, Fla. — A new website is now online to help hospitality businesses fill some of the more than 460,000 vacant jobs in Florida.

What You Need To Know

  • The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association launched GreatFloridaJob.com

  • It is to post open hospitality jobs in the state

  • It is expected that it could take most of the summer to fill major vacancies

To put the number of jobs in perspective, there are more hospitality jobs open than the population of the City of Tampa.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association launched a new website this week called GreatFloridaJob.com to post open hospitality jobs in one place.

"When you don't have enough people under your own roof to engage with the level of visitor you're experiencing, the level of interest you're experiencing, it becomes a challenge," said Amanda Payne, the president and CEO of AMPLIFY Clearwater, which helps promote the needs of businesses and tourism.

The idea is, the easier jobs are to find and apply for, the more quickly the vacant jobs will be taken.

"I do believe the more that it is talked about, the more that it is shared, the more eyes that are on it the more people that are pointing to it, that it does help," said Payne.

But nearly one and a half million jobs will not be filled overnight. In fact, it could take most of the summer to fill the majority of vacant hospitality jobs across the state.

With a big influx of lockdown weary out-of-state vacationers to Florida this summer, that means patience ​will be key when visiting hot spots on the beach or any of Florida's world-class theme parks.