Mont Sutton Fall Festival
Mont SUTTON looking to recruit and build up its workforce during its annual Fall Festival
Mont SUTTON has added a recruitment day to its Fall Festival program with hopes of welcoming new members to its team. Photo by Bernard Brault.
By Taylor McClure
Townships’ Daily News Bits
CIDI 99.1 FM
Published on 25/09/23
As a part of its annual Fall Festival this year, the Mont SUTTON ski resort has decided to host a recruitment day on Oct. 14 with hopes of welcoming new people to its team.
Mont SUTTON usually organizes a recruitment day every year, said Lydia Lyonnais, communications coordinator for Mont SUTTON, but it changed things up by making it a part of the festivals’ programming in order for attendees to experience Mont SUTTON with its fall colours at their “peak.”
“It’s the best way to combine the beauty and the fun with the opportunity to discover and be informed about the job openings here. A lot of people think you have to ski or that you really have to know the place to be interested, but there are so many kinds of openings on a ski mountain that it really suits everyone,” she noted. “When you take the time to ask questions, meet the people there, see the workers in what they’re doing every day, it might interest you and you might get curious about it.”
Lyonnais added that the Fall Festival is also the last time that Mont SUTTON gets to meet the people living in the local area before the start of the winter season, making the timing that much more important.
“After the Fall Festival, the mountain is closed to prepare the grounds for skiing. For us, it’s the last time to meet the people directly here,” she said.
Like other businesses in the area, Lyonnais mentioned that Mont SUTTON has experienced challenges with recruiting, highlighting the lack of public transportation in Sutton as one of the major obstacles.
“We must be honest with ourselves, Mont SUTTON isn’t so close to any transportation or anything, so you have to come here on your own. There’s no buses coming to the mountain or anything. Even for younger people, like students, we have a lot, but they have to have a car. It’s part of our reality,” highlighted Lyonnais. “(…) Recruitment is a challenge here like everywhere lately, but we’re working hard to fill the spots.”
Lyonnais highlighted that Mont SUTTON has first-handedly experienced the impacts that being short-staffed can have on the mountain.
“We saw it before, where some people were getting mad because on a beautiful day for skiing not all of the chairlifts were going to be open or things like that, but that’s a part of our reality. If we don’t have enough staff, we just can’t because you need to [have two people at the bottom of the mountain and two at the top of the mountain],” explained Lyonnais. “If we want to open the seven chairlifts, we need at least 28 people to operate it. That can be really frustrating for people. But so far ... they are still coming because it’s so beautiful here.”
Mont SUTTON hopes that by adding the recruitment day to its Fall Festival, it will better address the gaps in its workforce, emphasizing the need to find “new avenues, new areas” to help fill the jobs that are available.
“The advantage here is there’s so many people looking for a second job, a part-time job, and we are there to show that it’s possible here, you don’t have a minimum time to give to the mountain,” emphasized Lyonnais. “You can work only one day a week, two or three hours, and it will be fine with us because there are so many things you can do, like the kitchen, the boutique, the rental centre. Like I said, you don’t have to be on the hills and ski to be here. (…) There’s a lot of advantages and we are here to make people [aware] of that.”
For its recruitment day, the Human Resources team of Mont SUTTON will be on site starting at 11 a.m. to answer any questions attendees may have and to speak on the numerous advantages provided as an employee of Mont SUTTON.
According to Lyonnais, some of the positions open at Mont SUTTON include joining the snow-making team or the chairlift operation team, mechanics, assistant-cook, professional patroller, administrative positions, and more.
“They will see how all of the people are happy here, encourage each other, and the general ambiance on the mountain and everything. It’s really going to be the best time to [experience] the atmosphere,” mentioned Lyonnais.
Speaking on the Fall Festival in more detail, Lyonnais said that there are a number of activities offered over the five-weekend festival beyond the recruitment day, including two ziplines, disc golf, win tastings, chairlift rides, and free musical performances, that will show people what Mont Sutton is all about.
“With the colours here in the Eastern Townships, we are truly blessed to have this beauty around us. So we really wanted to capitalize on the colours and the landscapes to invite people to come and discover us. With the chairlifts open and everything, it’s really a unique way to see it. It’s the only time in the year where you can see it that way,” noted Lyonnais. “(…) It’s really the last chance we have to invite people to discover us and to try everything we have to offer.”
For more information, go to Mont SUTTON’s website.
Listen to the full interview with Lyonnais below: