Lincoln lawn company increases hourly rates to entice snow-shoveling workers ahead of winter
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The current staff at Summit Lawns are equipped to operate snowplows, but they still need 20-30 additional workers to shovel up what the snowplows leave behind, and they are willing to pay appropriately.
“There’s a lot of preparation that goes into this,” said Nick Tarlowski, operations manager for Summit Lawns.
He says on top of making sure the machines work, he is making sure his staff is well supported ahead of winter.
Tarlowski posted to Facebook last week to announce he’s organizing a ‘sidewalk crew’ with an hourly rate that’s getting a lot of traction.
“There’s a reason it’s 30 bucks an hour. Snow is difficult work. A lot of times you’re out, it’s below zero, the wind chill is 20/30 below, and we have hundreds and hundreds of commercial and residential homes to go do, so it’s difficult!” he said.
The additional workers will be used for what he calls an “extraboard,” something he says is necessary since he understands that his full-time staff may not be ready to go at a moment’s notice.
“And it’s totally okay if they can’t, we understand. That’s the point of an extraboard, to have a bunch of extras because not everyone can drop everything and go do snow,” said Tarlowski.
The open positions do not require much training since his full-time staff will be handling the heavy machinery.
New hires will be given shovels to detail the hundreds of jobs they usually have. They will follow a plan developed by the team before the job even begins.
“The idea is to get people dug out and then go through again and make sure everything is super nice and clean, all the detail work is done.”
His message to those interested? “Be prepared to get cold, be prepared to get wet, because the shift isn’t stopping until it’s done.”
Ted Glaser, founder of Summit Lawns, says it is a significant part of their mission to take care of their workers and customers alike.
The company even takes on a few jobs each year, entirely free of charge, for those in need.
For those interested in joining their team, more information is available on the company website.
