Keeping qualified lift mechanics is a serious issue for many areas. As lift controls and equipment become more complex, employees need more expertise. And yet the industry is losing young talent to other industries.

We thank Bud Fischer from Brian Head, Utah, for alerting us to this discussion, Bill Wolfe of skilifts.org for granting us permission to reprint excerpts from it, and the forum members for making it all possible.


mmsa
Oct 31 2005, 07:59 PM
Another trainee just gave me his two-week notice. It seems they get about one to two years’ training and move on. I just can’t get beyond teaching the basics. I have been working on lifts for 30+ years and have seen a lot of guys come and go, and it is starting to get me down. Doesn’t any one make a career of being a lift mechanic any more?

Do other areas have turnover like this, or are we doing something wrong? I know housing is one of the major problems here, but the pay, I think, is pretty good.


teleski3
Nov 1 2005, 06:39 AM
I have trained people for the last 10 years and they also tend to last about a year before they leave. We are down to myself, a newbie and an electrician—from a crew of six to a crew of three. It’s going to be a long winter.


Mike
Nov 1 2005, 07:22 PM
It sucks to pay people to get certified to weld or program PLC’s just to see them leave, but that’s the nature of the beast. People always think the grass is greener. We have had people go back home, only to return a few years later.

Maintenance people need to feel that they are making a difference. . . . Having a fun place to work (but still serious), and things like 401k, health insurance, okay pay (nothing special) and respect will keep people interested in their jobs.


SkiBachelor
Nov 2 2005, 05:54 PM
I’m not yet an industry employee, but I know why so many young people are getting out of the industry. Many new jobs pay a higher wage for a lot less work than what you get as a starting lift mechanic. A telephone salesperson with Cutco Knives starts at $12 an hour including benefits. Costco jobs start out at $10 an hour and go up quickly. I know one forklift operator who’s been there three years and is already making $17 an hour. . . . If ski areas don’t want to lose their new employees, they will have to match the market for wages and benefits.


Lift Dinosaur
Nov 3 2005, 07:29 AM
To Ski Bachelor: Thanks for the view from a 20-year-old. My question is, “How does the industry project the job of a lift mechanic as a career worth having?” You mention two things: 1) money 2) less work. Do pride, responsibility, accomplishment, satisfaction, knowledge, and fun (to mention a few) fit into what a 20-year-old is looking for in a job? I personally do not see any of those at Cutco. I don’t mean to be antagonistic; we Dinosaurs just need to understand.


SkiBachelor
Nov 3 2005, 05:00 PM
Reply to Lift Dinosaur: Pride, responsibility, accomplishment, satisfaction, knowledge and fun matter, but many people are willing to sacrifice some of those things for a higher-paying job. I’m sure that a Cutco sales person feels some of those characteristics you listed. . . . increasing the hourly wage by a few dollars and adding some benefits would most likely keep employees longer, and resorts wouldn’t have to waste money on re-teaching lift mechanics and getting them certified for things like welding.


gs3
Nov 20 2005, 03:18 PM
You guys are all correct. When you go to the shows you hear a ton of talk about what it takes to attract and keep good people in every department. . . . in almost all trades it takes a long time, decades, to get to the top. And even then, try raising a family on less than a director’s salary. . . . So we job-hop, one paycheck to a better paycheck. But at least my kids got to have Christmas two out of three years.


chuckm
Nov 21 2005, 02:25 PM
. . . Most of the people in charge now did not do time in the trenches like the people that I learned from. They don’t quite know what you do. . .Now we have accountants running the show and the bottom line taking priority over the sheer love of the mountains and the sport. . .Recognition will only come from one’s peers these days. So to motivate these guys (gals too!) they have to know that they are doing something special. To be a millwright working in this environment is unique.


liftmechanic
Nov 21 2005, 03:23 PM
Yo Lift Dinosaur: You know me—if the Jameson’s is available I’m happy!


Emax
Nov 21 2005, 03:50 PM
Management needs to understand that a mechanic’s or technician’s success is largely defined by what does not happen. These machines—if maintained by people who don’t understand or who don’t give a damn—simply won’t work. Now that would be an attention-getter.

The words “organized labor” leave a bad taste in my mouth—even after spitting twice—but unionized maintenance personnel could make the point pretty quickly and clearly.


liftmech
Nov 22 2005, 05:01 AM
Unions keep getting brought up, but . . . most of us would rather not deal with another bureaucracy on top of the one that’s already there.


Emax
Nov 23 2005, 10:19 AM
It is for those of us who stick with it to create a solution. . . .the age of the talented “shade tree mechanic” whose work is largely a labor of love is on its way out. We are now hoping for trainees that are reasonably well educated who are willing to become specifically more educated. Further, we ask them to do this for the love of the industry. That’s a lot to expect.