Industry News
Loveland Ski Area, CO, is struggling to hire enough staff to run the resort. Although they have enough to open now, as the season progresses and more lifts and terrain open, restaurants open, and lessons are in demand, the resort will desperately need more employees.
“We are so excited to get going for winter. It finally looks like winter up here. We definitely are still hiring, and it’s difficult to hire. We have enough staff to get open, and that’s our first target.”
– Karen Cameron, Human Resources Director at Loveland
Resorts across Colorado are having the same issue––it’s difficult to hire––and a lack of affordable housing is the main culprit.
Cameron added that Loveland currently houses about 10% of its workforce but realizes they need to do more. To help with this, they’re leasing an old motel and using it as employee housing.
Twenty-five miles away down I-70 in Idaho Springs, Loveland is rebranding the Bearadise Motel as Lift Landing to provide an affordable place for employees to live. While it will only house thirty employees, it’s a start. They also have another property that will house thirty international workers and plan on providing more housing in the future.
“We need employees, and Clear Creek County is getting more expensive to live in. People are finding it harder and harder to find housing when they work a seasonal job. It is very expensive. And there’s not a lot of properties. It’s pretty limited. Supply and demand. It’s becoming harder and harder for people moving into the community to actually buy in the community. We’ll have to get creative, because there’s not a lot available and the prices are going up.”
– Karen Cameron
Communities all across Colorado are dealing with an affordable housing crisis. Winter Park offers homeowners subsidies not to offer their properties on the short-term rental market and instead offer them to local employees. Similar schemes are underway in Summit County too.
