The Denver Post today carried a story regarding the number of ‘aliens’ coming to work in ski resorts on H-2B visas – which permit holders to work temporarily in the United States.

Quota on H-2B visas
As the state prepares for the annual influx of foreign ski resort workers, debate is growing as to whether US employers should be allowed to employ workers when Americans are unemployed.

Foreign nationals have been filling temporary jobs for decades, but last year was the first time the government enforced a policy that limits the number of H-2B visas it issues to 66,000 a year.

After staff shortages, the law was amended to spread out the visas over 12 months and to exclude from the cap workers who were employed here during the previous three years.

Americans reluctant to take temporary work
Some employers would prefer there to be no cap at all as Americans are reluctant to take temporary employment, and are more choosy than their foreign counterparts, according to David Perry, senior VP of Aspen Ski Co.

In a sentiment that European workers can well understand, Perry says how thirty years ago, he and his friends didn't flinch at the thought of living four to a room if that's what it took to get ski-resort work.

"The expectations have changed over the past generation," said Perry. "Now, they come straight out of college almost with a sense of entitlement. They say, 'Where is the management job?”

The ski industry accounted for more than a third of H-2B visa requests last year.