Oydis Nickle recalls getting all the necessary staff for summer as being a challenge for her parents, but now after two years of running the Union Steamship Marina and Doc Morgan’s restaurant, the challenge is far greater.
“We’re pretty well staffed here at the marina, but we really need a full-time manager. Last summer, we had two managers that commuted but between the cost and the hassle of that commute we couldn’t keep either of them,” says Nichol.
“Last summer, we had two people working here from Coquitlam and one from East Vancouver. I think people get off the boat, look around and think it’s awesome, but when they get into it with the commuting, they realize its really hard.”
Nichol adds that at Doc’s getting wait staff is not too hard – as they make great tips in the summer – but getting the kitchen appropriately staffed is a whole other challenge.
“Right now we probably have four full-time positions to fill in the kitchen,” she says. “We get applications all the time, but when we tell people we don’t have staff housing and it’s hard to find a place to live on-island, it ends there.”
