Page 32 - 80819_NSAA_Volume26_Journal_Neat

continue to challenge us all. (Figure 3 shows how minimum number of snowmakers on staff and RFID, long known to
wages have changed from 2015 through 2018.) replace some ticket scanners and security).
Reciting growing minimum wage pressures, some busi- Our industry does have attractive employee benefits,
nesses have turned to technology to adapt to both supply/ such as employee ski passes. For an average full-time seasonal
demand problems (not enough workers) and rapidly esca- employee, that benefit can convert to over $1 per hour (more
lating labor costs for unskilled entry-level jobs (which in for part-timers). Family passes or discounts can translate
some states is moving $1/hour every year). Companies like even higher, likely quantifying around $4 per hour for a full-
Olive Garden, Applebee’s, and Jack-In-The-Box are mov- timer and as much as $12 per hour for a weekend seasonal.
ing toward automation, replacing wait-staff with touch- This bodes well for enhancing work experience and engage-
screen order-taking terminals. McDonald’s is adding ment—for the right candidates.
14,000 kiosks not as a labor reduction plan but to allow Falling unemployment rates are an obvious force for
staff repurposing to fulfill more critical operational needs. increasing wages due to supply-and-demand issues, says
Red Robin, however, announced the elimination of table Greg Dallas. “We are in a hyper-competitive market with
bussers as a direct result of minimum wage pressures. low unemployment, competition for skilled employees, and
Numerous concepts are also relying heavily on apps to get a dearth of housing,” Dallas said. “Employees are aggres-
customers to place their order. Although this type of tech- sively drafted right out from under you. Employees are
nology may be a long way out for ski resort operations, comfortable sharing their pay rates with others. [At Sugar
there are massive efforts in hospitality industries to adopt Bowl | Royal Gorge] we are committed to making sure
customer-facing order technology. Technology is augment- that what we’re paying is fair and our system for deter-
ing or substituting labor elsewhere, even for us (e.g., auto- mining wages is explainable. We are open and transparent
mated snowmaking systems that can reduce reliance on the about it.”

FIGURE 1
Positive Wage Growth For All NSAA Job Families, 2015 To Present

2017 2015
3€YEAR PERCENTAGE GAIN
5.5%

$30.00 4.5%

3.5%
$25.00

2.5%
$20.00
1.5%

$15.00
0.5%

$10.00 MIS Sales €0.5%
Human Resources Day Care Summer & Bikes Purchasing & Warehouse Rental Ticketing Terrain Park Food & Beverage Guest Services Retail Accounting & Payroll Grooming Lodging Operations Ski School Ski Patrol Administration Snowmaking Lift Maintenance/Electrical Security Marketing Golf & Grounds Maint Competition Vehicle Maint Lift Operations Building Maint & Skilled Craft Mountain Ops (Leadership) Transportation

During this period every NSAA job family showed gains in real dollars and percentage growth. Two-thirds of NSAA job families outpaced national
wage growth percentage gains; however, less than one-third kept an actual dollar-per-hour pace necessary to close any gaps to other industries.

30 | NSAA JOURNAL | SPRING 2018