Worker visas have been put on pause by the president. How will that affect Hilton Head?
A decision last week by the Trump Administration to halt new work visas through the end of the year could have a major impact on Hilton Head’s hospitality industry which depends on such workers to staff some of the island’s restaurants, resorts and bars.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last Monday preventing thousands of foreigners from obtaining temporary employment in the United States.
The decision is part of an effort to curb immigration and redirect job availabilities in the U.S. to American workers during the COVID-19 unemployment crisis, the administration said.
In the Lowcountry, where the tourism industry reigns supreme, some local business leaders and one consulate official say the decision will be felt by employers.
“The inability to bring in H-2B associates this year has made staffing extremely difficult as most resorts on the island have depended on this labor force for many years,” said Warren Woodard, director of sales and marketing at the Omni Hilton Head Oceanfront Resort, in an email. “The Omni is no exception.”
Woodard said the resort typically uses 100 H-2B associates during the March to October high season in a variety of positions including servers, housekeepers, bartenders and culinary specialists. He said that although the Omni has been able to hire some local staff, most of the jobs are being filled by “task force” associates from within the brand and by temp agency staffing.
“Our Task Force associates are covering many different positions throughout the resort including front desk, servers, bartenders, and culinary specialists,” Woodard said. “These are associates that work for other Omni properties around the country that are currently closed or operating at very low occupancies.”
Charlie Clark, the vice president for communications at the Hilton Head Islandf-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, said that workforce scarcity is an ongoing issue for the island.
“The H-2B Visa program is one that our hospitality industry relies upon to supplement the seasonal workforce,” Clark said in an email. “It’s unfortunate that this year’s workforce availability has been hindered by the pandemic which will impact the hospitality industry not just on Hilton Head Island but in other resort communities as well.”
Deborah Hutchinson, vice consul for the government of Jamaica, said she is concerned about how Hilton Head Island’s hospitality industry will handle the reduction in H-2B labor.
“If you were to look at Hilton Head as a hospitality mecca, it will not survive without migrant labor,” Hutchinson said. “I cannot tell you how many Latinos are there, Filipinos are there.”
Hutchinson said Jamaica has a strong history of supporting the U.S., starting in World War II before the former was even a country, when Jamaicans worked in factories to keep Americans fed and made ammunition for the Marines.
Along those lines, she said, there are H-2B workers who have been coming to Hilton Head for 20 years and will not be able to this year.
“We are a developing country ... and unfortunately it will be a very difficult year, economically difficult year for migrant workers who cannot come,” Hutchinson said.
And for the businesses on Hilton Head that could be affected, Hutchinson said she feels for them.
“Right now I can tell you that they have managers that are cleaning hotels because they don’t have employees,” she said. “And they are going to suffer.”
Some local businesses say they will not be affected by the visa suspension since they have rarely or never used H-2B workers.
Alan Wolf, chief executive officer of SERG Restaurant Group, and Steve French, director of sales and marketing at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa, both said their companies do not use H-2B visa workers.
By the numbers
Data from the United States Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification shows that during the first two quarters of fiscal year 2020, employers in the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort area submitted 37 requests for H-2B workers. Individual requests can cover multiple workers.
Of those requests, 651 workers were certified to work at places including the Omni, Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort, Montage Palmetto Bluff, Sea Pines Resort, Marriott Resort and the Sonesta Resort, as well as at various landscaping businesses.
In 2019, employers for worksites in Beaufort and Jasper counties had 738 workers certified.
The H-2B visa can last for up to a year, with the possibility of extension to three years.
In order to get H-2B workers, employers must prove that employing these laborers will not have a negative effect on the wages and working conditions of American workers in similar positions.
They also must prove that there are no American workers who are able, willing, qualified or available to work.
The federal order also spans a range of visas including the H-1B visa for workers in specialized fields and H-4 visas for their spouses, the H-2B visa for temporary nonagricultural workers and the J-1 visa for exchange visitors.
The new federal order does not affect work visa recipients already in the U.S. Those who provide services essential toward preserving food supply through the pandemic are exempted from the executive order. H-2A visas, which allow agricultural workers to come to the U.S., are also not included in the order.
