The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source:
Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:33 PM
Sevier County Hiring For Summer Tourism Season At Various Attractions
To find those future employees, Ripley's announced that a job fair would be held on Wednesday, February 21, as an important step to get the right people on board before tourism picks up steam.
"Some of our positions are part-time, but they are year round because we are such a year round facility in Gatlinburg that most people, when they're hired on, they're going to be with us all year," said Susanne DeSear with Ripley Entertainment. "Maybe they find that the position they're hired for, that's not the fit for them. There's opportunities to rotate to another position. Say they're hired as a cashier but really like haunted things, they can find something in our Haunted Adventure."
A challenge for all businesses in Sevier County has been finding enough workers, who must in turn find somewhere to live if they're moving into town.
DeSear said Ripley's has become flexible to help people get on board.
"We work with their schedule. We've had people make the drive from Kingsport, Johnson City until they could get moved down here. That's one of the things with our positions we can work with them," she said.
DeSear said now is a good time to join, because more jobs will open this summer -- and Ripley's likes to promote from within.
The job fair is Wednesday at Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. Some positions pay $15 an hour.
