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R OLL BACK THE CALENDAR TO SUMMER 2015 where ahead of these groups by 2 percent, helping to advance our-
R

selves as an industry wage leader within our own NAICS
the Journal article “Remaining Competitive in a
Sea of Wage Pressures” focused on financial and
structural conditions straining resort operators. It explored designation. Data from NSAA National Wage & Salary
Survey indicates an even greater improvement, with an
driving factors such as the economy, persistent wage stagna- increase of 9.1 percent in average wages over the past three
tion, changing regulations, historical wage trends, unioniza- years (figure 1).
tion, and industry practices, while advocating upgrades to These findings show that our industry’s annual per-
compensation systems and planning. Since then, significant centage gain in wage growth is improving around six-tenths
changes to the socio-economic, political, and business land- faster than national and most regional rates. This may not
scape have transpired, laying new foundations that affect seem like much, but it can be quantified to about $600 in
resort pay polices and decision making. every employee’s paycheck since 2015.
We’ve come a long way in just three years. While the Recent wage growth has been driven by a combination
previous article provided useful conclusions for the man- of factors, including mandatory minimum wage increases at
agement of human resources and business planning, in this state levels, the rapidly increasing cost of housing in moun-
follow-up we discuss new trends, resort successes, and con- tain communities, speculation of other regulations (such as
tinued opportunities, testimonials, and suggestions to help the previous administration’s unsuccessful effort to increase
you plan and manage what is your single greatest business the white-collar overtime salary threshold by executive
resource: the investment in your people. order), competitive positioning, more aggressive salary plan-
ning, and compression adjustments (i.e., when the starting
Industry Wage Comparisons & Trends wage of new employees bumps up against the wages of exist-

Wages within our industry show a mixture of positive as well ing workers with more longevity).
as discouraging trends. The good news is that average wages A great example of a ski area operator who stays abreast
in the overall “recreation” industry (as defined by NAICS, of these trends is Greg Dallas, president and CEO of
the North American Industry Classification System) have California’s Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge Resort. “When I
improved 6.9 percent since 2015, according to the Bureau of came into this position, compensation was the first thing I
Labor Statistics. In addition, wages also moved proportion- assessed with a fresh perspective,” Dallas said. “The lion’s
ally faster for ski resorts than for other segments in the rec- share of our cost structure is our people—wages, benefits,
reation industry, such as gambling establishments and theme and recognition programs. We commissioned a quantitative
parks. We also benefitted by having average wages already national and local market analysis, and reengineered our

28 | NSAA JOURNAL | SPRING 2018