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Myth: There are plenty of American college students available Myth: If employers raised their pay, American students
for hire for seasonal jobs, rather than foreign students. would be incentivized to move temporarily and fill take these
Fact: The unemployment rate is at historic levels in many seasonal jobs.
key ski states (e.g., Colorado, Vermont, Utah Wyoming, Fact: In the ski industry, most larger destination resorts are
Idaho, Montana) as well in a number of counties with ski already paying far above federal minimum wage, and above
areas. At the start of the ski season, the unemployment higher state minimum wages to attract and retain workers.
rate in December 2016 in Summit County, Colo., was 1.5 (Depending on the area and the resort, hourly pay is somewhere
percent (4 percent is considered by economists to be “full above $11/hour for many entry-level positions.) Margins for
employment”). This county is home to four large ski areas most ski areas are very tight, and the ski industry is infamous
that account for nearly 10 percent of skier visits nation- for the perception (often false) of promoting a costly sport,
wide. In Summit County, Utah—also home to several large leaving little margin for even larger increases in pay. Like all
ski areas—the December 2016 unemployment rate was other businesses, ski areas must tightly manage labor costs, but
2.3 percent. It is especially challenging to fill jobs in rural do so while dependent on Mother Nature on an annual basis.
mountain communities, especially in the Mountain West. Resorts, hotels, and casinos also use a large number of
In fact, many of the larger ski resorts in the industry have 10 J-1 student visas (as well as H-2b visas)—including those
percent or more of their available positions are left unfilled— associated with the President and his family—and Trump’s
even with access to immigrant visa programs! properties are close to major metropolitan areas with access
More important, while American college students can to larger labor pools, unlike ski areas.
often fill positions for summer resorts, golf courses, and
other summer seasonal businesses closer to larger metro- Myth: Foreign visa programs depress American wages.
politan areas, in the winter they are not available for ski Fact: This statement is false, especially at it relates to J-1
area positions because they return to school shortly after visas. The J-1 visa program is largely embraced by seasonal
the New Year. workers, mostly in rural or remote communities, where labor
and affordable housing is tight. Furthermore, employers
Myth: Employers should use similar aggressive recruiting efforts are required to pay J-1 visa students the same rate of pay as
they use for foreign J-1 visa students to recruit American workers American workers in similar positions. American seasonal
and students. businesses would certainly opt to hire Americans first if they
Fact: Ski areas do a large number of local job fairs, adver- were available, but in rural communities where ski areas are
tising, and related outreach, and we still have thousands of located, they are unavailable. Notably, a recent Wall Street
jobs that ultimately go unfilled, even with access to the J-1 visa Journal article said there is faster growth in hospitality indus-
program. Recruiting out-of-state students has not been effec- try wages, which is a key demographic for the use of the J-1
tive for many reasons, including the key fact that students visa program. Simply put, there are no wages to depress if
often do not temporarily relocate for a short-term seasonal there are no workers to fill those positions.
position away from home (yet this is exactly what J-1 foreign
students do). Myth: American employers should hire inner-city students to
fill these positions.
Myth: American college students would easily take up the Fact: While inner-city students have a far higher rate of
slack from the approximately 100,000 J-1 visas to fill these unemployment, for the reasons noted here (refusal/inability
seasonal jobs. to relocate, housing costs, wanting longer-term positions,
Fact: These jobs, whether in the summer or winter, have weather challenges), inner-city students have not, and will
always been available to Americans, but in this current not, be interested in relocating for three to four months to
economy, Americans have access to other, better—and New England, the Rocky Mountain West, or Lake Tahoe
local—choices. American college students are more inter- for these temporary jobs in an industry highly dependent on
ested in local, field-specific jobs or career-track internships Mother Nature. And in the winter, while they are in college,
—not seasonal positions outside their field. With higher they are not able to move, even if they were interested.
housing costs in rural communities (driven by VRBO/ Moreover, ski areas are the economic engines of rural
Airbnb, etc.), students are choosing to stay closer to home, economies across the 34 states with ski areas. They provide
and are not willing to move for a three- to four-month job jobs in the winter season when other jobs (construction,
out of state or their metropolitan area. extraction, etc.) are not available. They generate critical

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