The bitter standoff in Congress over immigration reform is hitting home in ski country this winter.
For example, Stowe Mountain Resort usually relies on about two dozen seasonal foreign workers as ski instructors.
But Human resources director Julie Frailey says this year Stowe had to do “heavy duty recruiting” for its ski school, including a first-ever hiring clinic in January.
Ski resorts are among the first of several seasonal businesses nationwide to feel the pinch from a change in federal law that cut back the number of visas for foreign workers brought in for temporary or seasonal jobs.
Hotels, restaurants, seafood processors and landscaping companies are worried about filling jobs they say they can’t find Americans to do.