<p>The Boston Globe (boston.com) today reports on the problems faced by restaurants and other summer season businesses on Cape Cod who are enduring a severe dearth of workers this year. They complain that Congress’ refusal to renew the H2B visa program for summer workers has hurt their businesses.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I can’t evoke much sympathy for these business owners. So they’re feeling the pinch of the law of demand and supply. Just like the rest of us! They have gotten comfortable with paying low wages to desparate immigrants and now they have to increase salaries, pay overtime and hustle just make it through the summer. Here again is proof that immigration does drive down the wages of the working class and semi-skilled laborers. Even in fancy locales such as Cape Cod.</p>
<p>This also happened in my state, on Mackinac Island. When I heard that they were desparately seeking workers for the summer, I thought maybe my D should apply … until I saw the ridiculously low wages.</p>
<p>Different slant here. I was in Bar Harbor on business this summer and noticed that many of the service staff at hotels/restaurants etc. were foreigh (Eastern Europeans in particular). A business owner told me that the US high school and college kids are not interested in the jobs- they have better things to do and “can’t be bothered” to work at menial jobs. I thought that was interesting.</p>
<p>“Here again is proof that immigration does drive down the wages of the working class and semi-skilled laborers. Even in fancy locales such as Cape Cod.”</p>
<p>Unproven. If any of the locales are forced to close, or cut their hours, less money is spent in the local economy, hence fewer jobs, driving down wages.</p>
<p>I think the lack of interest by the traditional summer workers–HS and college kids forced the more seasonal places to look overseas. Too many kids rather pad their resume with some enrichment activity than sling chowder and lobster all summer.</p>
<p>mini, it’s been too many years since I took Economics 101, but let me see if I make sense:</p>
<p>If labor is plentiful because of a large supply of foreign workers, wages go down. If labor supply is reduced, wages will go up. The market will find a new equilibrium where wages will be higher.</p>
<p>The price of chowder will be affected and will go up. This will affect demand. Less people will buy chowder and some locales will have to cut hours or close.</p>
<p>End result: less jobs, higher wages for those who can get a job, more expensive chowder and less chowder made. You can argue this is good or bad for the economy of Cape Cod, but I don’t see the downwards pressure on wages.</p>
<p>“If labor is plentiful because of a large supply of foreign workers, wages go down. If labor supply is reduced, wages will go up. The market will find a new equilibrium where wages will be higher.”</p>
<p>If labor is unavailable, businesses are forced to close or cut hours. Less wages paid, and less profit made means less money circulating in the local economy. Less money circulating in the local economy means fewer jobs, and demand for labor goes down. As demand for labor goes down, and unemployment increases, wages decline.</p>
<p>Oh, so the key word is “unavailable”. I guess it depends on how many of “the working class and semi-skilled laborers” will be willing to work in those jobs vacated by the foreign workers.</p>
<p>keslmom, how much were they offering - minimum wage?</p>
<p>At the Dells (WI) they have a lot of foreign workers, and they must have some kind of dorm arrangement as well. I wonder whether a regional teen could get in on such an arrangement?</p>
<p>Dells was all college kids too but they got tired of them quitting mid August to go back to school. They even got the UW to start classes after Labor Day but kids like to get back early and enjoy the two weeks before school starts as most apt. leases off campus commence on 8/16.</p>
<p>That’s what happens when we want everyone to have a college education.</p>
<p>Same thing is happening in Britain. In London, it’s hard to find anyone British to collect your money at gift shops, stores or serve you in restaurants.</p>
<p>Restaurants and other places where it is assumed workers will earn tips can pay less than minimum wage.
Hard job for $5></p>
<p>My daughter worked more than full time this summer and earned much less than minimum wage at a residential camp.
I only realized last week that as a new counselor who was also assigned to work maintenance , that she earned much less than her sister who worked there 7 years ago, but who was riding staff. </p>
<p>Its a shame, because while it was a very hard job ( during her last session as a counselor, the 10 girls she had in her cabin: made her cry 3 or 4 times, got in multiple physical fights & several were put on warning- by administration- that they would be sent home- but never were), she still did enjoy most sessions and was very effective.</p>
<p>Her take home pay, will hopefully pay for one qtr of attending community college . However, students really need to be earning much more than that to cover expenses, so no wonder that low paying jobs are hard to fill.</p>
<p>There aren’t fewer jobs for them. That’s the whole point. H2B visas are issued when Americans can’t be found to take the jobs.</p>
<p>"The H2B visa is available to employers of foreign workers not working in the agricultural field. This visa is only available for work that is temporary in nature. For H2B purposes, that means:</p>
<p>Recurring seasonal need;
Intermittent need;
Peak-load need; and
One time occurrence. </p>
<p>The employer must also prove that there are no unemployed US workers willing or able to do the work. This is established through the state’s employment agency using a labor certification process. This process requires a recruitment campaign, including advertising in a local newspaper for available temporary workers."</p>
<p>As a native Cape Codder and also a business owner in another resort area south of Mass, I understand the issues. First of all, a lot of business owners hire seasonal J-1’s because they can work for a longer period of time than most area high school and college students …their classes usually do not begin until Oct. My niece , who attends HS on the Cape now has to go back to school before Labor Day. Most college students in the USA begin between mid-August to early Sept.
The tourist season is still happening, and it is very difficult to operate when most of your employees cannot work because they are back in school.
And BTW, they foreign workers do not make less money than their American counterparts…most restaurant workers make a small hourly wage combined with tips</p>
<p>This is happening in many if not all vacation areas. I know that the eastern shores of Delaware and MD are now filled with foreign summer workers. It used to be that all of those places had college/high school students working there. What the heck happened, when and how? It’s difficult now for US students to get those jobs. I know my kids tried. THe only jobs available were the life guard positions. All of the waiter type work was taken up.</p>
<p>Ije62, I can see that issue. Must be the problem here. However, we are talking about a depressed area here on the eastern shore and many natives who would want these jobs. From what I understand the businesses are preordering the help because it is so much easier that way all around.</p>
<p>Mini, If the situation is indeed the way you state it, I can see the reason for the foreign imports. However, I have heard of many US folks on the eastern shore who cannot get jobs for the summer anymore because of the early preordering of employees from overseas. My kids looked early and were told that it was a lot easier just to hire out of country.</p>
<p>The pay on Mackinac was minimum wage for certain jobs, and $2 something an hour for jobs where tips were expected. From that, workers had to pay for housing & food. No car was necessary (none on the island), so no worries about cost of commute, I suppose. The ad made it clear that workers were expected to work in excess of 40 hours/week - good & bad, as the extra money is good while the extra hours might be 7 days a week/12 hours a day. Seems to me when I was in high school it was minimum wage, 40 hours a week, included living. As someone stated earlier, the biggest problem now is “must be available April-October.”</p>
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