Resort staff well-prepared for seasonal influx

STAFFING challenges at Mount Hotham and Falls Creek alpine resorts have turned on their head for this year’s season, according to local chambers of commerce. Mount Hotham Chamber of Commerce president Steve Belli said application numbers have gone through the roof. “Last year we had issues with both staff accommodation and low application numbers but this year it’s turned on its head,” he said. “We’ve seen a rise in international applicants, along with local students looking for a gap year job. “The accommodation side of things has freed up in terms of availability, due to some owners who didn’t rent last year bringing back their seasonal accommodation, but prices have gone fairly high so it's been difficult for staff to afford to stay. “Some employers are subsidising accommodation to support but with the current costs of living, people aren’t saving a lot of money. “That being said the majority of people who come here for work are here for the snow experience so a lot of employers will explain that so there's no misnomers that anyone will walk away rich essentially, they’ll walk away richer in experience. “Employers are doing what they can to make it easier for staff by offering deals at local restaurants, staff discounts and the mountain is doing what they can; everybody trying to do their bit trying to manage costs for staff.” Mr Belli said thanks to the number of applicants this year the resorts will have scalable staff solutions for the seasonal rush. “We’ve got appropriately scaled staff at this point in time with the option to scale up if things go wild,” he said. “It’s been very manageable so far; businesses are all pretty well staffed. “We’re looking towards school holidays, waiting for people to come and a little bit more snow. “The snow making has been going hard and the technology has certainly improved with grooming up to speed. Falls Creek Chamber of Commerce president Michelle Lovell said Falls Creek businesses see a high return rate for staff. “We’re lucky in Falls; we have an extraordinary number of applications for our available positions with the ski companies, resort management and individual business reporting large numbers of returnees,” she said. “This is a great benefit to us as it improves guest experience as our staff already know what they’re doing and are trained. “I think our Falls Creek Village is an environment people feel at home in so, realistically, there’s more people who miss out than businesses needing staff numbers. “We’ve only just opened the ski lifts so lots of staff haven’t had much work yet; everyone is happy and settled and waiting for the season to kick off but not making as much money as they will later in the season. “In terms of accommodation we’re doing really well. “Bogong Village is activated now and there’s quite a few Vail staff down there as well as St Falls Resort staff which has freed some beds for independent businesses at the staff accommodation up here. “Although Bogong is not an entire solution because not everyone can live in the Bogong Village; many businesses need staff to be on mountain so we do need additional beds on mountain but it has definitely provided some relief. “It's been a bit of a bigger gap this year between opening weekend and the school holidays but that does mean more time for staff to train and consolidate skills to hit the ground running when the influx does arrive.”

Resort staff well-prepared for seasonal influx

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