If you’re looking to get a summer job in Yosemite it’s even easier if you live in the Central Valley or can get here pretty quick. Delaware North Company is looking to avoid problems with hiring they encountered last year by hiring more local people.
The Modesto Bee | Yosemite looking to hire in valley: “Dozens of foreign workers arrived weeks late for seasonal jobs at Yosemite National Park last spring, throwing operations into chaos. This year, the company that does the hiring is looking closer to home.
Foreign workers also have become harder to recruit because of changes in visa rules. So the firm is recruiting much more heavily in the San Joaquin Valley and finding workers who didn’t even know jobs were available at the national park.
Officials with Delaware North Cos. Parks & Resorts at Yosemite Inc. said they probably could have found more local workers to fill the jobs before, but they didn’t try hard enough.
‘We were not being smart in the type of outreach we wanted to conduct,’ said Kenny Karst, spokesman for the company, which operates retail stores, motels and other amenities at Yosemite.
Delaware North has hired a recruiter and stepped up its appearances at job fairs and trade shows. Company officials have appeared on Spanish-language television shows to get the word out about jobs.
Delaware North says it has spent $230,000 on those efforts.
The firm has hired 88 valley residents and expects to use 29 fewer international workers than last year, when it gave jobs to 183. In addition, 300 full-time jobs are open.
The number of foreign workers could decline more in years to come as Delaware North seeks to turn seasonal positions into year-round jobs, Karst said.
Among the new workers is Delilah Haro of Modesto, who was hired in November as a housekeeper at the Ahwahnee Hotel.
Haro, 20, said she didn’t know of jobs at the park until her father heard about it at a job fair. Then she and her sister got jobs.
‘The first day, I got lost. I thought I was stuck in the woods but I found my way,’ Haro said. ‘I like it now. I will stay here for a while.’
That’s the kind of commitment Delaware North officials said they are looking for after what happened last year.
The company had expected more than 100 workers by April from Ecuador, Thailand, Ukraine and Mexico, but they didn’t arrive until June, said Laura Chastain, Delaware North re- cruitment manager.”