Massachusetts Coastal Communities Struggling To Find Summer Employees
CAPE COD (CBS) -- There is a secret behind a successful summer for your favorite beach town.
Seasonal workers typically pour into our area from around the world to help local businesses keep up with demand.
There is concern amongst coastal community leaders that this season, the well is running dry.
"Historically, that workforce was a college workforce, but a number of factors changed," said State Senator Julian Cyr. He represents Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and most of Cape Cod. "Whether you are a person looking to make a life here for the season or year-round, you can't find housing."
Senator Cyr said demand for housing skyrocketed in the pandemic. He added prices for homes in Barnstable County went up 20 percent in just one year.
"People are not able to afford to live in these communities anymore," said Cyr.
Tourism leaders in Hampton, New Hampshire, are facing a staffing issue for a different reason.
The Hampton area relies heavily on J-1 Visa workers. Those are colleges-aged students who travel to the United States to work seasonal jobs.
Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce Director John Nyhan said they are seeing a massive decline in J-1 workers.
"A lot of embassies around the world are so far behind. We are not sure how many J-1's we are going to be this year."
Nyhan and his team came up with a solution aiming to mitigate the shortage.
This summer, they are partnering with the Lakota Tribe in South Dakota, providing students to fly to New Hampshire to live and work for the summer season.
Nyhan said the Lakota Tribe has a program like this already set-up with other states.
Many of the jobs these young adults would be working are with the State Parks Department.
"These are positions where you have to give up your weekends and a lot of your summer nights, And younger people that are home from college, they want their weekends free," said New Hampshire State Parks employee Meredith Collins.
Collins said the students from the Lakota Tribe are participating in a program that will work to align their days off, so the group is able to travel and explore New England during their employment season.
