Posted on 10/04/2007 8:56:12 AM PDT by george76
Applicant shortage threatens service.
Steamboat Springs Transportation Director George Krawzoff said this week that his department is currently 26 drivers short for its winter bus service program. Last winter, nine seasonal, foreign workers — including six Australians — drove Steamboat Springs Transit buses. This year, there will be no foreign drivers.
Krawzoff said an energy boom in Australia has lured away many of the workers that would have considered driving buses in Steamboat this winter. A weakening dollar also has made working in the U.S. a less appealing option. Krawzoff said recruiting one or two drivers from other countries was not cost-effective.
“When we began recruiting, we rapidly found there was little or no interest in Australia due to the energy boom there,” Krawzoff said. “They would have been happy to do it again, if not for the situation in their country.”
Krawzoff expressed his concerns Tuesday, during an all-day discussion of the city’s 2008 budget with the Steamboat Springs City Council.
“We’re at a crisis point with bus drivers,” Krawzoff said. “We have 14. I need 40. We have two applicants.”
If all the positions aren’t filled, Krawzoff said the frequency of bus service would have to be reduced and routes would likely be cut, starting with recently added and lesser-used routes.
“These are very painful cuts,” Krawzoff said. “Generally speaking, frequency is everything to a transit system.”
Krawzoff’s trouble finding bus drivers highlights a number of other larger concerns for city officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at steamboatpilot.com ...
There are plenty of Americans that would gladly work here for a living wage.
ht addlip2U
Plenty of East Europeans available. Nowadays, on the Eastern Seaboard, those seasonal summer jobs (lifeguarding, resort staffing, waitressing, etc.) are done by slavic kiddies.
If the spoiled unionized brats in Pittsburgh weren’t paid $80K per year plus bennies to drive around mostly empty busses, some of them could be persuaded to move to Steamboat Springs.
This guy has got to be joking. He can’t find seasonal help in Steamboat Springs Colorado in winter? So there is no-one that wants to be there, 2 days off a week to ski? B.S.
These are seasonal jobs revolving around the winter ski season. Western ski resorts recruit college kids in the southern hemisphere who are on summer break ... Australians are popular, they speak English of course, and are outdoor athletic types.
yup
drive around mostly empty busses...
Um, J-2 visas have nothing to do with this story, and H-1B (or H-2B) visas are unlikely to be given to seasonal bus drivers.
Our youngest son works seasonal at one of the ski resorts in Colorado- he has to reapply by early August to get a position as so many people want the jobs. He has a decent salary, employee housing, and all the free snowboarding he wants at 7 different resorts plus famiy and friend ski discounts. On top of that he has meal discounts plus merchant discounts in town. He works with people from all over the world and snowboards with a lot of the pros. Not a bad gig when you are 20!!! Most of the private bus drivers are foreign and reapply for these jobs before the end of the season! I can not imagine Steamboat having any trouble finding workers!!!
There’s a classic solution - offer more money. Duh !
What a concept : offer more money !
8-)
if Gov. Spitzer gets his way, I’m sure there will be plenty of illegals with New York CDL’s that would be happy to work for Steamboat Springs.
Put the 120k in the salaries offered,… NOT in the HP recruiting budget. DUH!
Last month, the City Council approved two lease agreements for bus driver housing, at 525 Dabney Lane and 690 Amethyst Court. Krawzoff said he hopes to reduce drivers’ rent at those locations to $350 a month. Drivers earn $15.02 an hour, a wage that would rise to $15.60 an hour on Jan. 1 if, as expected, City Council passes a budget that raises city wages 4 percent across the board.
The 120k split between 40 drivers at an estimated 6 months duration is a raise of about 2.90hr. So 15.60 + 2.90 = 18.50 plus only pay 350 month rent.
In Steamboat Springs. During ski season.
Yea that's a tough gig. Can't find anyone to do that huh? I smell a load of BS, this guy wants a bunch of slaves to drive the busses, not employees.
Fools, driving a bus requires a CDL in most places. A cdl driver makes around $48,000 per year. So they have added enough money to pay one drive for a year. If they want drivers pay them, end of problem.
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