Local businesses frustrated by worker shortage, limit on visas

MEREDITH — Local business leaders had a unified message for U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen during a recent roundtable discussion: a worker shortage is forcing businesses to curtail special events, cut back on hours of operation and even consider closing.

Larry Litchfield, owner of Sawyer’s Dairy Bar in Gilford, said he employs about 40 workers in the summer, but was having such a hard time finding enough people to fill the slots that he considered not opening the restaurant this year.

Russ Hart said Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant did not do a breakfast for Motorcycle Week and curtailed 35 percent of its winter functions because of a lack of staff. Sim Willey noted that Hart’s is also doing less summer catering than in past years because of a lack of workers.

Cynthia Makris said she had to curtail some of the activities at the Naswa Resort because of a staff shortage, resulting in bad reviews from customers on TripAdvisor.

“We lose business in the summer because of it,” she said.

An outward migration of young people is a problem for New Hampshire as a whole, and the lack of affordable housing makes it difficult for young people to live here, the group agreed.

“They go to Boston for the big bucks, but when they’ve made their money they come back here because this is the lifestyle they want,” Hart said.

That leaves a shortage of people to serve meals, provide housekeeping services and fill other positions that retirees are looking for.

That labor shortage creates the need to hire residents of other countries, and all of those taking part in the roundtable discussion at Hart’s on Friday echoed the need to relax the limit on the number of visas that allow foreign workers in.

The H2B visa – which allows foreigners to take temporary non-agricultural jobs – is capped at 66,000. Businesses have been asking for a higher limit, but the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services stopped accepting applications, even after the ceiling was raised last year.

“The argument is that it helps depress wages,” Shaheen said, “but when you don’t even get a person to apply, you have to look overseas. We’re creating more jobs than we have people.”

Amy Landers of the Lakes Region Tourism Association said that lack of workers is depressing the job market.

“Americans don’t want to do those jobs,” Makris said, but 99,000 foreigners applied for the 33,000 visas that were available in the last round.

“We as an industry need to use lobbying in Washington, but also push it around the country,” Makris said. “We need to separate the discussion from The Wall and illegal immigrants.”

Shaheen agreed. “We need to reframe it as a workforce issue, not immigration.”

Youth motivation

Landers said she was one of those who moved away as a young adult, looking for better opportunities, “but I came back 20 years ago.”

She said that, contrary to some perceptions, people can come to the Lakes Region and make good money.

“The major issue is education as to what the jobs are. We need to let them know what the jobs look like in their terms, and what the salaries are. We’d like to create that resource.”

Hart recalled years past when high school and college students were anxious to work at the restaurant during the summer, but he said today’s youths no longer want to take those jobs.

Makris observed that parents no longer encourage their children to get summer jobs.

“The parents pay for everything,” she said. “The kids pay for nothing anymore.”

Noting that servers at restaurants make a lot of money in tips, she suggested that colleges should make internships a requirement, which would provide help to the local communities.

When Shaheen spoke of the internships that many manufacturers are arranging with colleges, Hart said the seasonality of many tourism businesses makes that difficult.

“It’s a problem when the season is only eight weeks long,” he said.

Visas

To obtain workers through visas, business owners have to complete paperwork and file a petition that costs $1,900. Then there are other expenses, such as providing lodging and transportation. It can cost $32,000 to $34,000 to get the workers they need, Hart said.

Brian Shields of the Manor on Golden Pond said there is a lot of gamesmanship involved in securing a visa or Green Card for a foreign worker. There is a lottery system, so even getting the petition filed on the first day of the year does not mean it will be approved.

“Why maintain a cap when it’s been a problem for several years?” Landers asked.

Makris also complained that 55 percent of the available visas go for landscapers.

“Hospitality gets just scraps,” she said. “We almost didn’t open for our 83rd year.”

Makris said she found herself interviewing prospective workers in a hospital corridor in Florida while her mother was undergoing surgery. It resulted in bringing back 15 people so they could open the Naswa on time.

Shields said he also relies on J1 visas, open to foreign visitors looking to learn about the United States. He suggested that seasonal business owners might look into splitting the visitor’s time with a partner who operates during a different time of year, but noted that it requires developing a training plan and submitting that as part of the petition.

Hope at home

Zach Williams, special assistant for policy and projects in Shaheen’s office, said New Hampshire is in a good position for attracting millennials as they start their families and get into home-buying.

“They’re starting later than it has been,” he noted, saying that, instead of starting families at age 26-27, they are now waiting until they are in their early 30s.

Landers said that, because of the high cost of attending college, the community colleges are becoming more attractive to young people today, and making them aware of the local opportunities can help to keep them here.

Williams said job shadowing is a great way to let people know what the job market is like. The federal Job Corps, which helps link at-risk youths with potential employers, is another possible source of help, he said.

Shaheen also suggested making contact with officials in the Manchester refugee program.

“We need to encourage a work ethic among our youth,” Shaheen said. “The immigrants historically coming here work hard and spread that work ethic. To not encourage that is a real bad decision.”

Hart summed it up: “To make America great again, something has to change.”