Weak economy brings in flood of interest for winter work

More than 3,000 applications received at ski area

Ski areas across the country are looking to hire more local and U.S. resident employees this winter, and Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is no exception.

The resort will be hiring only about 30 international workers with student visas, and competition is stiff for every seasonal job at the company.
CBMR director of human resources and risk management Lilly Hughes says CBMR is following the trend that other resorts are taking with their hiring strategies. “We’ve really cut back on the amount of international workers we are hiring this year,” Hughes says. CBMR, along with many other resorts, is not hiring any seasonal workers with H2 visas. “We just didn’t feel we needed them,” she says.
An H2 visa allows a person to come to the United States temporarily to perform agricultural, temporary or seasonal work.
“We are hiring a few of the student workers, which are the J1 visas, and primarily the ones who worked for us last year because they already have the training,” Hughes says. She says some of those J1 visa holders are taking jobs in the resort’s housekeeping department. “It seems no matter how bad the economy is, nobody wants to work in housekeeping,” Hughes says.
In total, Hughes says, CBMR is hiring 30 workers with J1s, compared to nearly 140 last season—nearly a 70 percent reduction. Vail Resorts is also hiring about 70 percent fewer international workers, according to an August 28 article in the Aspen Times.
According to the Steamboat Pilot the Steamboat Ski Area is hiring about 75 percent fewer international workers as well.
Hughes says CBMR is also cutting back on the total number of jobs at the resort, but will still employ about 700 seasonal workers, and will fill a few dozen year-round positions. “There are still going to be more jobs available for domestic workers this year,” she says.
Hughes says following the national economic crash last season the resort saw many locals and domestic workers applying for jobs mid-winter, after the international workers had already been hired.
Late this summer CBMR was already seeing a tremendous number of applications from domestic workers, and Hughes says the resort canceled the annual fall job fair. “We had one planned, but we had canceled it because we already received over 2,000 applications as of September. We have received about 3,000 applications so far, and that’s just for new hires. We don’t require returning workers to fill out applications,” Hughes says. “We’re getting about 40 percent more applications this year over last year.”
Hughes says people from all over the country are applying for jobs at the ski area, including food and beverage employees, lift attendants, and maintenance workers. “We’re in a good position because we can really get some great workers,” Hughes says.
Hughes says people can still apply for a handful of jobs left at the resort. “We’re still looking for great applicants in a few different areas. It is an extremely competitive job market right now,” she says.
On Tuesday, November 3 CBMR’s website listed nearly a dozen open job announcements, such as a chef, snow shoveler, maintenance technician, mail room clerk or adventure park attendant. Those positions are listed at skicb.com under the employment tab at the bottom of the page.