New employees descend on Sun Valley each season from as near as Twin Falls, to as far away as Russia, with France, Argentina, and Romania in between. According to George Rutherford, the resort’s director of Human Resources, Sun Valley Resort hosts an international village of between 1300-1600 employees during peak season.
Sun Valley’s foreign employees use two different government visas, the J1 visa for college students on vacation, and the H2B visa for foreigners seeking career training in the United States.
Students on the J1 visa work for three to four months and then have 30 additional days to travel the country. The program allows them to earn some money, experience life in the United States, and, of course, practice their English. The H2B, on the other hand, allows for stays of up to 18 months, and Sun Valley tries to match these older, more experienced employees with their specific career interests and work experience.
Where do they work? The largest department is Food and Beverage as the Sun Valley Company operates as many as 14 restaurants at a time. Drawing heavily from French culinary schools, the resort may have as many as 80-90 trainees in the department at one time, including chefs, restaurant managers, and servers. Foreign employees also work the front desk of the Lodge, the ski slopes, and in accounting.
In addition to wages, Sun Valley also offers all of its employees dormitory housing. These 540 beds, says Rutherford are a “big selling point,” since affordable housing is otherwise difficult to find in the area. In the winter, most of Sun Valley’s employees come from South America, where November through March is summer and therefore their summer vacation. In the summer, the trend reverses and most new employees come from across the Atlantic, filling the Valley with Russians, Ukrainians, Poles and even Kazakhstanis.
With a national limit of only 66,000 H2B visas each year, competition for these workers is stiff, says Rutherford, and much to Sun Valley’s dismay, the H2B quota for the summer has already been filled. So, any locals looking for resort work might take note: job applications are available. For more information contact George Rutherford by email or phone (208-622-2061).
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