’TIS THE SEASON...
employees who get pulled away for the annual family vacation or need to return to school, leaving businesses scrambling to hire a second wave. “It is difficult to keep locals, as they tend to come and go,” says Lynch. So North Shore uses CIEE, one of the largest BridgeUSA visa sponsor organizations, to secure students from countries all over the world. H-2B visas are another option to secure international workers, one with slightly different parameters. “H-2B workers can stay for the duration of an organization’s season, and they tend to be a higher-level worker,” says Keith Pabien, CEO of Seasonal Con- nect, an aptly-named platform that helps connect seasonal employers with seasonal workers, and vice versa. The H-2B program allows many U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs for up to a year. Unlike the BridgeUSA program, appli- cants are not students, but workers
pursuing a specific career. The visa application process takes about six months and requires financial spon - sorship, but the investment can be worth it if a business can get the same employee to return year after year and/or have a consistent and reliable workforce for its busy season. STAFF EXPENSES, INCENTIVES “Juggling employees is the hardest part of the job,” says Lee Kerfoot, owner of Kerfoot Canopy Tour and Brainerd Zipline Tour, both in Minnesota. To attract and retain employees, “We try to promote and push that we have a strong referral bonus,” he says. The park has struggled to find guides, says Kerfoot, which is why he recently bumped the referral bonus up to $400. Bonuses on bonuses. North Shore offers staff referral bonuses, too. It also offers end-of-season bonuses if an employee stays to cover the shoulder season, and has restructured its friends and family passes for employees so they can be used even when the employee is working. >> continued
North Shore Adventure Park, Minn., hires local and international staff to meet demand. ^
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