Benjamin Peter, edited by Manon Fossat 11:05 am, December 04, 2021

After a dark year in 2020, the ski areas are opening their slopes this weekend.

For the moment, some areas are already experiencing a reservation rate close to their 2019 level, but in a tense health context, it is the shortage of seasonal workers that is worrying.

Most winter sports resorts open this weekend.

A recovery hoped for by skiers as well as professionals, but many are still worried about shortages of seasonal workers.

In some resorts in the Alps, there is a lack of between 5 and 10% of the staff.

In the Pyrenees, recruitment has also been difficult, but mountain professionals have learned to adapt and retain their employees.

"Retain" employees

"This weekend I will not have everyone because my seasonal workers do not arrive until the following week".

Cyril will have to wait until next weekend for his team to be complete.

He who runs "Le Rendez-vous", a restaurant at the foot of the slopes, had trouble finding his 12 employees.

"Before, we didn't necessarily house staff, but now everyone wants to be accommodated. I think people have changed sector of activity, suddenly we have revised salaries upwards to attract staff. Because without them, we can do nothing, "he laments.

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As for the trackers, pole vaulter or reception staff, on the other hand, we refueled without difficulty. As Jacques Murat, from Ax 3 Domaines explains, the choice has been made for several years to retain locals. "We have a lot of people who live there all year round, who work at the station. So they are sedentary seasonal workers who work in the summer in other activities," he explains before detailing. "We still have 75 to 80% of our employees who come back every year. And the stations which do not have this pool of employees nearby are a little more bothered." Especially since the other difficulty for professionals this year is that the forums for seasonal workers were made via video. Which, again, did not facilitate applications.