The three signs of Spring – the birds are chirping, the snow is melting and the seasonal hiring has officially begun in the Nakusp area.
Flyers, posters and signs have been printed all across the village, particularly in the service industry such as the local restaurants.
Judy Hatt, owner of Chumleys, told the Arrow Lakes News she’s more than ready for Spring.
“You better believe it,” she said. “It’s been a long winter you know, and we just hang in there like everyone else and wait for Spring and Summer to come.”
Once the patios open up Hatt said they can have as many as 20 staff working for them at once, including servers and kitchen staff.
Mark Brunton, executive director of Outreach Employment Services, said employment overall in the area is increasing.
“We’ve definitely seen an anecdotal increase,” Brunton said. “Our training programs in the last two month have offered double what we have in the past.”
He said he’s also seeing the seasonal increase start up.
Brunton said the increase in jobs typically sustains itself until the end of Summer and sometimes into the early Fall.
He also said in other industries such as BC Hydro and Forestry there has been a little more employment than last year as well However, that doesn’t apply to everywhere.
“Overall through the Kootenays it’s been fairly flat in terms of employment,” he said, stating January and February overall have an 8.4 per cent unemployment rate for the area.
But as far as Nakusp goes Brunton is seeing good things.
The Arrow Lakes News did not receive any return calls from the other restaurants in Nakusp.
