Vacasa Raises Company-wide Minimum Wage to $15 Hourly

Committing to pay employees a living wage, Vacasa challenges hospitality industry to follow suit. Plans to add 900 employees this year throughout its company.
Vacasa, a leading technology-enabled vacation rental company that recently purchased Discover Sunriver, announced a minimum wage increase to $15 hourly across the 14 U.S. states it operates in — more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25. This policy, which took effect on April 24, will impact roughly 25 percent of the company’s 1,000+ employees.
In addition to raising its nationwide minimum wage, Vacasa is committing to year-round employment for senior housekeeping staff — a first in the hospitality industry affected dramatically by seasonality. Vacasa challenges other hospitality companies to follow suit and instill similar employee-friendly policies. The majority of employees affected by this policy will be Vacasa’s guest service agents, housekeepers and reservationists, who make up almost a quarter of Vacasa’s workforce.
Vacasa says the investment is not only good for employees, but it’s good for business, too. According to CEO and co-founder Eric Breon, “One of the biggest challenges in the vacation rental industry is recruiting and retaining talented employees, especially in many of the small markets we operate in. As opposed to competitors that don’t employ field staff or that use contractors, Vacasa has always taken pride in hiring and fairly compensating qualified local candidates. Since our founding in 2009, we have paid our employees at least $12 hour, and are proud to continue to champion our employees by raising that to $15.”
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Vacasa manages more than 3,500 properties, has achieved consistent 100 percent year-over-year growth, and has been ranked number nine on the Inc. 5000 list. These monumental milestones have been achieved by backing dedicated local teams with proprietary technology and marketing systems created in-house. While these technology solutions have led to impressive scalability and the best financial returns for homeowners on the market, the company says it wouldn’t be able to achieve any of it without a reliable team of local staff.
“Ensuring we have talented field staff on board is at the core of our business and is arguably the most important ingredient to Vacasa’s success,” says Breon. “Our goal is to provide economic incentive, along with the additional benefits our employees receive, to retain our hardworking employees and ultimately provide the best customer experience on the market.”
Vacasa plans to hire an additional 900 employees this year both in its Portland, Oregon headquarters and across the 14 U.S. states that it operates in.
www.vacasa.com

(Photo above: Todd Lane 10 | Photo Courtesy of DiscoverSunriver.com)