MSC Cruises hiring up to 2,000 South Africans as crew this year, 5,000 by 2028

MSC Cruises is planning to hire around 2,000 South Africans this year to join its international fleet, with plans to hire up to 5,000 by 2028, according to Ross Volk, Managing Director of MSC Cruises South Africa.

Speaking to IOL, Volk said South African crew are in demand with MSC Cruises as English is widely spoken in the country, and South Africans are seen aborad as hard workers. 

The cruise line will be hiring South Africans through its Shosholoza Ocean Academy Recruitment & Training centre, with a goal of recruiting 70% of people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“We want to get to 2,000 South Africans on board ships this year; 1,000 next year; and by 2027 to 2028 around 5,000 South Africans on board our vessels,” he said in an interview.

“We had a bit of a (hiring) gap within Covid-19. It was a bit problematic, but we’re pushing towards those goals. So we are on track at the moment to reach 2 000 South Africans this year,” he added.

MSC Cruises employs around 360 staff in South Africa itself through its local subsidiary MSC Cruises South Africa, but is now pushing to hire more South Africans on ships throughout the fleet.

Volk said he believed the cruise tourism and wider tourism sectors had great potential in addresing the unemployment crisis in the country.

“I believe firmly that tourism has the absolute opportunity to break the unemployment crisis that faces South Africa, because you don’t need a degree to interact with people; you don’t need a degree to be a South African. South Africa has such a rich culture diversity, that it’s really important for us to embrace it,” he said. 

MSC Cruises is also promoting South African artists in the creative economy with employment opportunities.The cruise line has established partnerships with themed cruise organisers that span all music genres across South Africa. 

“We’re always looking to support local artists. We’ve got a partnership now with Mi Casa. We’re looking at Kurt Darren, DJ Fresh and Euphonik as partners in terms of some of our cruises,” Volk said.

MSC Cruises also aims to bring young, up-and-coming artists on board to perform on its South African cruise itineraries. 

“We launched a programme last year with Maroela Media in conjunction with Darren around letting listeners and readers vote who they think the next up-and-coming artist should be. We’ll hire them to come on one of the themed cruises,” Volk explained. 

“So we’ve (now) got two new young up-and-coming artists on two sets of cruises to give them the opportunity (with an audience of) 3,000 people.”