Will a South American take your job?

We are in Cedar City, UT for a couple of days- shopping and doing a couple of repairs. In last Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune, an article (available for 30 days) described how ski resorts are relying on South American students on summer vacation for their winter seasonal work force. The Universal Student Exchange agency interviews students to make sure their English is adequate. Most are hired with a J-1 student visa. This costs the employer nothing but the visa is limited to four months and the season can be longer. Or, they can hire someone with an H-2B teporary worker visa for the full season, but then pay a fee. Students pay the agency about $1000 to participate in the program.

While workers on the RV road aren't rushing to work in winter ski resorts, more and more summer seasonal employers are hiring students from Europe to fill positions during their summer vacations. This is especially true of concessionaires in national parks where they hire hundreds of people. According to the article in the Tribune, employers pay foreign students the same rate of pay as locals. They obviously cannot find enough employees through hiring U.S. college students and RVers.

Concessionaires are still hiring RV workers. However, if you work for a concessionaire, you may very well be working with students from all over the world. It could open up opportunities for RV workers wanting to work for a couple of months before the season starts or at the end. Or employers may look less to U.S. workers and more towards foreign students who will stay the full time of their commitment. Jaimie

For information on Jaimie Hall's recently revised book, Support Your RV LIfestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road, 2nd ed., see RVBookstore.com.