Page 33 - Flathead Beacon // 7.29.15

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 34 FINANCIAL CORNER 37 CORPORATIONS 40 BUSINESS IS PERSONAL 41 Business Monthly
With more job openings than workers applying for them, many businesses are struggling to find seasonal employees during the busy summer months
TOURISM
A JOB-SEEKER’S MARKET
M
BY OLLY PRIDDY
A help wanted sign on a storefront in Columbia Falls.
GREG LINDSTROM FLATHEAD BEACON
It’s no secret the Flathead is at its busiest during the summer, when tourists flock to the valley’s moun- tains and clear waters, spending their time and buoying many local busi- nesses by spending their money.
And after several years of trying to break the recession’s icy grip on local cash flow, the influx of visitors is a much-ap- preciated boost. But for some businesses, these days it also means having to offer top dollar for seasonal employees, who were available by the dozens for every job opening during the recession but are now proving to be scarce.
In Columbia Falls, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which runs the hospitality ser- vices at the hotels and lodges in Glacier National Park, is scrambling. According to Marc Ducharme, the general manager of Xanterra’s Glacier division, the mas- sive summer season has been spilling over into the shoulder seasons.
relying largely on tourism, Ducharme said it is proving to be difficult to find the seasonal workers – local, national and international – who can come on board now in the late spring and stay through the beginning of fall.
The seasonal staff at the lodges tends to come from different states or coun- tries, not only adding to the worldly expe- rience at the park, but also supplementing a skeleton crew of local workers.
“We attempt to hire as many locals and Americans as possible, but we just simply
cannot satisfy our position with local and or Americans,” Ducharme said. “It’s really forced us to look internationally.”
Various college schedules from myriad countries make scheduling all of the open positions difficult, he said.
“It’s a real burden on us to try and find a market of employees to bring over from other states and other countries,” Ducha- rme said. “Our plan currently is to con- tinue to work with our J-1 (visa) program to try and explore countries that have the ability to provide employees when we
need them on these shoulders.”
For example, Ducharme said Xan- terra has identified Japan and Ecuador as countries where college-aged students can still work through August because of their later starting dates. So when the workers who have been at the lodges all summer leave to go back to school in August, a new wave of seasonal workers
starts to help finish out the season. “Logistically it’s a nightmare. Our human resources department is amaz- ing at doing this juggling act,” Ducharme said. “We still struggle in the spring, the late May-June season. Our best answer
this year has been lots of overtime.”
It’s also been difficult to pin down a full passel of local workers for the Columbia Falls warehouse and laundry facilities,
Ducharme said.
“We have really struggled to find
locals. We have had a big challenge filling
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While this is a boost for businesses
“THIS IS NOT MINIMUM WAGE. THE MARKET WILL DETERMINE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET FOLKS’ ATTENTION, AND WE ARE ALL PAYING. THESE ARE ALL GOOD-MONEY JOBS, EVEN IN KITCHEN HELP. WE ARE PAYING TOP DOLLAR.”
- SANDY NOGAL, MCGARRY’S ROADHOUSE
JULY 29, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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